


The Day Confessions Were Made

by MsDorisDaisy



Series: The Days of Our Love [4]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Anxiety, F/F, Fluff, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-24
Updated: 2016-10-28
Packaged: 2018-08-24 12:16:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 33,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8371990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsDorisDaisy/pseuds/MsDorisDaisy
Summary: The continuation of "The Day The Earth Stood Still" picks up with our favorite girls starting their official relationship wherein Lexa is an obliviously busy little bean, and Clarke just wants Lexa to open up. Some startling realizations are had by Octavia, Raven gets heart eyes, and appearances are made by some other favorites (Anya, Lincoln, Gustus, Abby, Jake).





	1. Part One

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back! I kinda went rogue with this series for a while, but I hit a serious writer's block with it a couple months ago. I adore this world so much that I didn't want to write something just for the sake of writing it, so I took a step back until my inspiration came back at full-force. I'm a total comment whore, so please feel free to leave one if you feel inclined so that I may indulge! Without any further ado...
> 
> *The last paragraph of Part One has been edited*

Having sex in college was hard.  
  
Scratch that.  
  
_Making love_ in college was hard.  
  
It had been all but a week since Clarke and Lexa's first time together, and they had barely been able to see each other since. The inevitability of their class loads were beginning to weigh down upon them, and their continuous texting and occasional lunch meet-ups in the campus cafeteria were hardly enough to keep them sated for too long. They hadn't had the luxury of a date night since _that_ night, and the weekend they thought they'd be able to spend alone together was cut short when Raven had to make an unscheduled trip back to campus before visiting Polis Medical Center to address a pain in her leg that she animatedly described as the ‘physical manifestation of a lightening storm created by the devil's reincarnate of Mother Nature for the sole purpose of shits and giggles.’  
  
Clarke's curiosity and above-average medical knowledge had gotten the best of her and she ventured to ask Raven about her injury however she quickly dismissed as a lie the explanation of it being a result of an attack by a rogue polar bear who'd escaped from his cage at the zoo, only later to hear from Lexa that Raven had told _her_ she'd been hurt when she accidentally landed in the cross-hairs of an Olympic rugby player's homicidal tirade after losing to a rival team. Neither of them believed either of Raven's fantastic stories, of course, and chalked it up to a mixture of the mechanic's quirky personality and a likely aversion to vulnerability. They all still had a lot to learn about each other but fortunately the newly-banded group of friends seemed to mesh relatively well, especially after it appeared that Raven and Octavia had worked through a little bit of their original animosity towards each other. A little of it.  
  
No matter the case, neither Clarke nor Lexa would deny their disappointment of not having the easy opportunity to spend some more time together (naked time to be specific) during the previous weekend, and their opportunities seemed to dwindle even further as the days went on. It also wasn’t that they weren’t trying, but Clarke’s determination to impress her art Professors and Lexa’s heavy double-major and minor workload was occupying every bit of their spare time and neither one of them knew how to ask for more time together in fear they would be keeping the other from something important. It was why when they had finally found themselves alone together in the bathroom of a bowling alley just off campus on exactly the seventh day after the first time they’d made love, their hands and lips were simply unable to stay apart any longer.  
  
The kiss had started out slow with Clarke wrapping her arms around Lexa’s neck until each of her hands were clamped around the opposite elbow and Lexa’s hands resting gently atop Clarke’s hips. They had sighed into each other’s mouths, steaming up the bottom edge of Lexa’s glasses as they quickly found a steady rhythm of lingering pecks and purposeful breaths. Only when Clarke’s hands wove themselves into Lexa’s long chestnut locks did their kiss become deeper, more needy, and Lexa subconsciously responded by easing Clarke’s back against the cool metal wall of the bathroom stall just beside the sinks. Instantly regretting whatever decision her brain had made on its own to move Clarke against the immovable object, Lexa realized her inability to trail her hands over the swell of her girlfriend's backside which is what she had wanted to do since the very second their lips had connected.  
  
A small huff of displeasure tangled in the air between their mouths, and Clarke couldn’t suppress the small smirk that tugged gently at the edges of her lips when she felt Lexa’s fingers dancing awkwardly around the curve of her hips. Just as she was about to politely inform Lexa that there were other places she could feel free to touch, Clarke felt their kiss tighten as Lexa swallowed nervously before pulling her lips away and trailing them gently down the side of Clarke’s neck. Completely unaware of the way Lexa would silently love the tickle of Clarke’s moan beneath her lips, she let one out from the back of her throat as Lexa quickly slid her hands up to rest just below the flare of her rib cage. With a small tilt of her head, Lexa repositioned herself to follow the same path down Clarke’s skin but on the opposite side of her neck.  
  
Clarke’s pulse began to race with each gentle suction and couldn’t help herself from rocking her thigh against the apex of Lexa's legs, earning from the brunette more than she'd ever thought possible of the girl. Granted the ‘rocking’ that was supposed to be subtle was more of an explicit grind, but Clarke still didn’t expect Lexa’s teeth to sink into the soft skin at the bottom curve of her neck. A small yelp of surprised mixed with just a hint of pain echoed throughout the room and had Lexa pulling away in less time than it took to blink an eye.  
  
“I–I’m sorry…” Lexa began to apologize, and she watched Clarke lift a hand to cover the pink bruise blossoming over her pale skin.  
  
She wanted to disappear. She wanted to sink into a hole and never come out. There was nothing Lexa wanted less than to hurt Clarke, _her_ Clarke, yet the passion of their moment and her knee jerk response to, well, Clarke’s knee jerking against her had brought her to do just that, and her desire to hide herself away for the rest of eternity had never been so great. Lexa’s heart dropped as she went over all of the possible explanations and apologies for her behavior as Clarke watched on in silence, her sparkling blue eyes growing a shade darker with each second that passed.  
  
“That was really hot,” Clarke finally whispered, much to Lexa’s complete and utter shock.  
  
“It was?” Lexa heard herself ask out of disbelief.  
  
Clarke nodded and bit her lip as her eyes trailed down to land squarely on Lexa’s mouth.  
  
“It sounded like I hurt you,” Lexa continued, her voice trembling ever so slightly with both apprehension and arousal.  
  
“It hurt a little,” Clarke confessed as she took her hand away from her neck, “but in a good way.”  
  
Her chest began to rise and fall at an ever increasing pace as she thought about Lexa biting her again, marking her, then pulling her lips away to sooth the blemish with a soft slow lick. Clarke's mouth had fallen open at some point during her imagination's detour, and Lexa was left aching to know what was going through her head. Unable as always to stop the almost magnetic force behind their kisses, they began moving together for another round of their steamy makeout just as someone all but burst through the door of the bathroom, effectively making the two of them jump apart in surprise. A stammered apology from the intruder and a hasty exit from the young couple later, Clarke and Lexa were making their way back to their group of friends as they smoothed out their slightly disheveled appearances.  
  
“Hurry your ass up, Princess!” Octavia shouted over the music overhead as she pointed up to the scoreboard highlighting Clarke’s name.  
  
Well, Clarke’s bowling nickname for the night.  
  
The occasional truce Raven and Octavia had called would usually give way to shenanigans later on during their time spent hanging out together, especially when the entire group was involved. It meant that for that night in particular, they had found themselves bickering and snickering over the names they chose to log into the bowling alley’s computer system that worked to signal which player’s turn it was.  
  
“Princess Peach?” Clarke asked disapprovingly as she slid back against the hard plastic bench near the console Raven and Octavia were hunched over.  
  
“Yes, _Clarke_ ,” Octavia drawled dramatically, “do we need to explain it to you?”  
  
“I get it, thanks,” Clarke replied with a roll of her eyes. “Who is space geek number two?”  
  
“Lexa,” Octavia answered quickly, keeping her eyes trained on the screen above their bowling lane.  
  
“I’m space geek number one,” Raven offered with a cocky smile, “because, well, I am number one after all.”  
  
“Number one pain in my ass,” Octavia mumbled under her breath.  
  
“Shove it, Spaghetti-O,” Raven shot back and continued typing out the last nickname.  
  
Clarke snorted out a quiet laugh and Lexa tried to hide a smile by fixing her glasses, neither of them wanting to incur any wrath from Octavia if caught enjoying what appeared to be Raven’s choice of annoying nickname for her. They went to work getting their bowling shoes tied onto their feet, only stopping to offer their drink orders when Monty had asked, and about ten minutes later the group was re-hydrated and ready to bowl.  
  
Raven was up first, followed by Octavia, and the two seemed to immediately begin a competition between the two of them while the rest of the group tossed their ball at the pins just for fun. After a few rounds of smack-talk seemed to satisfy Raven and Octavia for the time being, the friends’ chatter fell back on all of the other normal things college kids most often talked about.  
  
“So who’s going to the Push Bowl party next weekend?” Monty asked from his spot on one of the benches by their lane.  
  
“Oh, my dear sweet computer nerd,” Raven drawled as she shook her head from side to side, “there’s _way_ more than one Push Bowl party.”  
  
“Oh?” Monty questioned, a slightly surprised expression passing over his face.  
  
“I went party-hopping my first year since I had no clue about anything–”  
  
“I see you haven’t grown out of that stage,” Octavia interrupted.  
  
“No clue about the the _party aspect_ of college life,” Raven clarified bitterly, “since some of us are here to do more than sit our lazy asses on an undeclared major until our guidance counselors are forced to hold our hands while making our life decisions for us.”  
  
“I’m picky, smart ass,” Octavia quipped as she ran a hand through her hair and whipped it over her shoulder.  
  
“As if your incessant picking at my last nerves hadn’t given you away by now,” Raven shot back, raising a solitary eyebrow in challenge.  
  
“Alright guys, refocus,” Clarke interrupted as she snapped her finger a few times. “Push Bowl parties, remember?”  
  
“The parties at the frat houses are out of control,” Raven explained as Harper stood to retrieve her bowling ball, “and I definitely wouldn’t recommend going to any without a sober friend to get you back to your dorm at the end of the night.”  
  
“So you’re suggesting we find a party at a sorority house?” Harper asked after she had rolled her ball down the alley and knocking down a few pins at the end of it.  
  
“Don’t judge until you go,” Raven said, raising her index finger at the blonde in mock warning.  
  
“Space geek smitten by sorority girls?” Octavia asked teasingly from her position behind the score-keeping console. “How adorable.”  
  
“Feeling sad that you missed your chance to pledge?” Raven asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.  
  
“You wish,” Octavia replied quickly. “I wouldn’t hold your breath for too long though. You don’t exactly strike me as the type of a stereotypical sorority girl.”  
  
“I loathe stereotypes,” Raven explained as she took a step closer to the brunette, “I have no trouble holding my breath no matter how rigorous the activity,” she continued as she leaned into the other girl’s space, “and I’m _everyone's_ type.”  
  
Clarke scrunched her eyebrows in confusion as she alternating her gaze from one brunette to the other, noticing immediately the way her best friend’s eyes flicked down to look at Raven’s lips before leaning back to seemingly snap herself out of whatever haze she had slipped into during their little back-and-forth. She made a mental note to ask Octavia about it later, and her thoughts were cut off my Monty’s voice.  
  
“Is there an actual football game associated with the Push Bowl?”  
  
Raven turned her head back to stare quizzically at the boy before confirming his question with a weak nod and nearly strained herself _not_ rolling her eyes before picking up her bowling ball and lining up for her turn to toss.  
  
“We’re all going to the game then, right?” Harper asked, wanting to save her boyfriend from a little bit of embarrassment.  
  
“Sounds good to me,” Clarke chimed in as she flashed a smile over at Monty and Harper before turning her attention to Lexa. “Are you up for that?”  
  
“Sure,” Lexa replied with a small nod.  
  
“Hey, nice hickey by the way,” Raven said, pointing at Clarke’s neck as she walked over to take a seat on the bench beside her.  
  
As Clarke reached up to cover her neck, Lexa’s eyes snapped up to meet Monty’s as embarrassment washed over her body and a faint blush stained her cheeks. Having practically grown up together, they were almost like siblings yet the subject of their love lives never seemed to find its way into their conversations so the mere mention of a hickey on Clarke’s neck that everyone surrounding them knew was courtesy of Lexa was enough to draw the discomfort level between the two friends up to an all-time high. After Lexa awkwardly readjusted her glasses and Clarke cleared her suddenly parched throat, a small fit of giggles erupted through the group accompanied by a few suggestive eyebrow wags from Raven.  
  
“Your turn, Count Draculexa,” Raven teased as she shot Lexa a smirk.  
  
“Now _that's_ a fucking good nickname,” Octavia shouted, giving Raven a spirited thumbs up in approval as the group burst into laughter.

* * *

 

“Your paintings must be in by Friday, no exceptions,” Becca instructed her class as the final minutes of the period drew to a close. “For all of you interested in going after a spot on the fourth year apprenticeship program, there’s a few more opportunities on the board that can be used on your application so be sure to take a look on your way out.”  
  
Clarke’s heart skipped a beat as she caught her Professor’s eye and could have sworn she saw the tiniest of twinkles in it but stopped herself from thinking too much into it as she continued packing her art supplies away before heading over to the row of sinks at the back of the classroom to wash out the brush she had been using on her latest painting. There were students gathered around the large cork-board hung by the room’s main door, and Clarke patiently waited until the crowd thinned. She scanned the flyers quickly, not taking any extra time to linger on those she’d already seen before, but a new opportunity made her pause.  
  
‘Art Teacher For A Week’ it read, followed by information about Polis Elementary and the expectations of the University student needed in order to fulfill the requirements for the opportunity to count towards their classroom hours. Clarke read through all of the text on the sample flyer that was pinned to the board before letting her gaze fall to the table that stored extras for students to take with them. She plucked the light purple leaflet from its plastic tray and slipped it into her messenger bag before turning towards the door, sharing a small smile with her Professor, and walking out.  
  
“Clarke!”  
  
At the sound of her name, Clarke turned her head and watched as Octavia jogged up to her from where she’d just rounded the corner of the main art building. She was surprised at her roommate’s appearance on her route so early in the day, knowing she was supposed to be in class for another forty-five minutes. Octavia caught her breath quickly and fell into stride with Clarke as they headed into the main University square.  
  
“Why aren’t you in class?” Clarke wondered aloud.  
  
“The Professor was sick, so he cancelled,” Octavia replied quickly. “Want to grab some coffee at Grounders?”  
  
“Sure,” Clarke answered with a smile.  
  
It _had_ been a few hours since her first cup after all, and Clarke was totally open for consuming as much caffeine as she could to help keep her going through what was turning out to be one of the busiest weeks of her college career up until that point. Thanksgiving was barely over a week away, which afforded the entire campus a much anticipated and much appreciated four-day weekend, but preparations for term finals would hit with full force just days after their break. Clarke was ready and more than capable of performing well on each and every one of her finals, but she still had been mentally preparing herself for some intense study sessions to ensure she aced every class she had taken during her first trimester in University.  
  
They chatted about class, a professor they both shared but not during the same period, and the upcoming Push Bowl football game as they walked leisurely towards their favorite coffee shop on campus. Raven must have had class because she was nowhere to be found, and it was slightly to Clarke’s relief since a bickering war would usually break out whenever she and Octavia were in the same room together for more than a few minutes at a time. They ordered their coffees and found a comfortable spot on an overstuffed couch beside the lit fireplace warming the shop from the brisk autumn weather outside.  
  
“So,” Clarke started slowly as she fidgeted with her steaming mug of coffee, “have you heard from Lincoln?”  
  
“Clarke,” Octavia quickly warned.  
  
“What?” Clarke defended herself. “It’s just a question.”  
  
“One that I don’t really want to answer,” Octavia said quietly before taking a small sip from her own cup.  
  
“Why not?” Clarke gently prodded. “You’ve always been able to tell me everything, especially about Lincoln.”  
  
Octavia sighed and shook her head as if to act indifferent to the topic of conversation.  
  
“He checks in every once in a while,” the brunette said noncommittally. “Sounds like he’s got a lot going on.”  
  
“With school... or... other things?” Clarke asked, unsure of how to phrase her question so as to not upset her best friend.  
  
“School mainly,” Octavia replied as she snuggled further back into the couch. “He’s been volunteering with the Arkadia police department for the last three weeks. He said the more he can do before he graduates, the better it will look on his employment applications.”  
  
“That makes sense,” Clarke said with a small nod. “He’ll make a great cop someday.”  
  
“Yeah,” Octavia agreed before adding, “he definitely has the abs for it.”  
  
“He has the _abs_ for being a good cop?” Clarke asked through a small chuckle.  
  
“He’s got the abs for being a good anything,” Octavia quipped as a small smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth. “Just think of how much _more_ ripped he’s going to be after completing all the skills training cops have to go through.”  
  
“Okay, new subject,” Clarke said quickly as she saw the lustful haze begin to cloud the brunette’s eyes.  
  
“Hey, you’re the one who asked,” Octavia pointed out and shrugged her shoulders lightly.  
  
“I asked if you’ve heard from Lincoln,” Clarke clarified, “not for you to describe how cut his abs will be someday.”  
  
“Oh, please,” Octavia huffed in disbelief, “it’s not like you haven’t appreciated the male form from time to time.”  
  
“Sure, but not my best friend’s boyfriend’s form,” Clarke said before she could stop herself. “I mean, ex-boyfriend? I still don’t know what you two are.”  
  
“A conversation for another time,” Octavia said, clearly wanting to drop the subject.  
  
“Right, another time because even _you_ don’t know what you two are,” Clarke added in a mumble.  
  
“New subject,” Octavia said with a small glare over the top of her coffee cup. “So what’s up with you and Lexa?”  
  
“What do you mean?” Clarke asked, trying to hide her bashful grin behind her own cup.  
  
“I mean is there anything new to report?” Octavia clarified as she carefully studied her best friend’s attempt to hide herself behind her beverage.  
  
“You mean like the fact that we finally became official?” Clarke asked shyly.  
  
“Yes, like that!” Octavia enthusiastically replied. “Why didn’t you tell me?”  
  
“I’m telling you now,” Clarke said with a small shrug before taking a small sip of her coffee.  
  
Octavia rolled her eyes but continued her line of questioning regardless.  
  
“When did it happen?”  
  
“Two Saturdays ago,” Clarke replied, a light pink blush making its way onto her cheeks as memories from that night came rushing back to her.  
  
“What the hell, Clarke?” Octavia whined. “You should have told me right away.”  
  
“I just thought it would naturally come up in conversation,” Clarke explained, “which it now has.”  
  
“Wait a second,” Octavia cut back in, her eyes narrowing in thought. “Two Saturdays ago? When you watched movies in Lexa’s dorm room all night?”  
  
“Mhmm,” Clarke hummed and nodded in agreement as her cheeks deepened in color.  
  
A few beats of silence fell between them as Octavia finally pieced everything together.  
  
“ _You two had sex_?!” Octavia shrieked, most likely loudly enough for the entire coffee shop to hear.  
  
Clarke’s eyes flew open as she slapped the palm of her free hand down onto the arm rest of the couch and gaped over in disbelief at her best friend.  
  
“Octavia!” She scolded harshly. “Way to tell the entire coffee shop my personal business!”  
  
“Sorry,” Octavia apologized, sinking down into her seat and lowering her voice. “It's just... why didn’t you tell me? Wait, was it bad?”  
  
“No!” Clarke immediately replied. “No, it wasn’t bad. Trust me, it was _not_ bad.”  
  
“Gross,” Octavia said as she scrunched her nose in disgust at the blissful expression that washed over Clarke’s face. “Okay, so tell me about it.”  
  
“You just said gross,” Clarke shot back with confusion.  
  
“I know, but I told you about my first time with Lincoln,” Octavia explained. “It’s like a best friend rule to tell each other about their first times.”  
  
Clarke swallowed nervously, suddenly not sure whether she’d even have the ability to form the words to describe her moment with Lexa without dying of embarrassment. She stole a glance up at Octavia who was leaning forward with an enthralled look written all over her face, just waiting for her best friend to spill all the dirty details. After Clarke took a healthy swig of her coffee and picked with the chipped paint on the handle of her mug, Octavia sighed and opened her mouth to speak.  
  
“So?” Octavia tried to coax Clarke to begin. “How did it start?”  
  
“Well, it started when I told her she had to pick whether she was pro-Superman or pro-Batman,” Clarke started but was promptly cut off.  
  
“A superhero debate?” Octavia questioned, her expression clearly unimpressed. “A superhero debate made the two of you fall into bed with each other? Wow, Clarke. I mean, I knew Lexa was a geek but–”  
  
“Do you want to hear the story or not?” Clarke interrupted impatiently.  
  
“Fine, fine,” Octavia said as she waved her hand as if to motion Clarke to continue.  
  
“We were taking about Batman versus Superman, and she said she didn’t have a favorite,” Clarke explained. “Then she suggested we watch one of their movies so she could decide.”  
  
“Mhmm,” Octavia hummed as she took a sip of her coffee and looked at her friend in disbelief at how incredibly geeky her ‘first time’ story was starting.  
  
“Raven was off campus that weekend, so Lexa mentioned something about me staying the night if I wanted,” Clarke continued. “To watch movies.”  
  
“Damn that space geek’s got game!”  
  
“To watch movies,” Clarke repeated herself.  
  
“Right, of course, _to watch movies_ ,” Octavia said, using air quotes around the last three words.  
  
“Anyways, we changed into some more comfortable clothes,” Clarke explained, ignoring the exaggerated knowing head nod from the brunette, “and then watched the movie.”  
  
“Does this story have an end?” Octavia asked. “Get to the juicy stuff already.”  
  
“After she tricked me into telling her my favorite superhero so she could agree with me to avoid a future debate, we started to kiss,” Clarke said, meeting Octavia’s gaze.  
  
“Nice,” Octavia chimed in, bobbing her head up and down in approval. “So skip ahead to the big finale because I really don’t want to hear about all the whispered words of love and affection you two shared along the way.”  
  
“We weren’t whispering words of love and affection,” Clarke said with a small roll of her eyes, even though the idea of it didn’t sit as uncomfortably as she thought it might.  
  
“Get to the orgasm,” Octavia cut in and tapped a finger on her wrist as if she was pointing to an invisible watch.  
  
“It was,” Clarke began and hesitated to find the right word before deciding on, “great.”  
  
“Great?”  
  
“Really great,” Clarke assured her with a series of shallow nods.  
  
“So how did you... how did she...” Octavia said, trying to find the right words as she made unintelligible gestures with her hands. After a few seconds of silent debate, Octavia scrapped her original questions and posed a new one. “Was she loud?”  
  
“What?” Clarke asked as her eyebrows scrunched in confusion.  
  
“Lexa,” Octavia clarified. “Was she loud? When she came? Or leading up to it?”  
  
“Why do you even need to know that?” Clarke questioned, her cheeks beginning to flush again.  
  
“Just curious,” Octavia said with a shrug. “You know what they always say, quiet in the streets loud between the sheets.”  
  
“Who are _they_?” Clarke asked as she narrowed her eyes at her friend.  
  
“I don’t know, _them_ , _out there_ ,” Octavia answered and vaguely gestured a hand through the air. “I just can’t imagine Lexa being loud. Doing anything. Ever.”  
  
“She wasn’t loud,” Clarke finally confirmed in a quiet voice.  
  
“I figured,” Octavia replied.  
  
Apparently pleased by the amount of information Clarke had divulged, Octavia sat back against the couch once again as they both sipped happily on their coffees and proceeded to get lost in their own thoughts for the next fifteen minutes or so before they both had to head off to their respective classes.

* * *

  
**MsGriffster: I kinda miss you.**  
  
Lexa couldn’t stop the shy smirk from playing across her lips as she read the text message from Clarke, knowing the blonde was likely grinning at her own phone as she waited for a response. A quick few taps against her screen, and Lexa sent her own message off before locking her phone and continuing her walk towards the Social Arts building for her final class of the afternoon.  
  
**Lexa Woods: I kinda miss you too.**  
  
**MsGriffster: Do you want to hang out tonight?**  
  
**MsGriffster: I want to see you.**  
  
**MsGriffster: And I really need to kiss you.**  
  
Another smile broke across Lexa’s face as she read the trio of messages from her girlfriend, and she almost didn’t want to text back because of what her response would have to be. There was nothing more Lexa wanted than to see Clarke and be with Clarke and kiss Clarke, but she had so much homework to keep caught up on before the term finals after which the Thanksgiving holiday would immediately follow. A few moments of silent debate left Lexa feeling even more desperate to spend time with the blonde, and she quickly made her decision.  
  
**Lexa Woods: I would love to, but I have a lot of homework. Do you want to hang out after I get a few hours of studying done?**  
  
**MsGriffster: I’d agree to just about anything at this point. We could study together too, you know.**  
  
Just as Lexa was about to begin typing out a response, her phone started to vibrate with an incoming call. Her heart jumped in her chest when she saw it was Clarke calling and was suddenly trying to remember if they had ever talked, actually talked and not texted, over the phone. She shook her head as if to clear her thoughts and swiped her thumb over the ‘accept call’ button before pressing her phone onto her ear.  
  
“Hello?”  
  
_“So what do you say to a study date?”_  
  
“Yeah, we–we can do that,” Lexa agreed somewhat hesitantly.  
  
_“Do you want to?”_  
  
“Of course,” Lexa tried to assure her girlfriend, “I just have a lot of homework that I have to get done.”  
  
_“That’s the point of a study date, Lexa. To get homework done.”_  
  
“I know,” Lexa replied as a small smirk began to stretch her lips.  
  
_“Are you worried we'll get distracted?”_  
  
Lexa could tell by the way Clarke was talking that she was smiling ear to ear and probably hoping to catch her off-guard with her subtle teasing. She swallowed quickly, trying to calm her nerves and not sound too obvious to the fellow students she passed that she was having a flirtatious conversation out in the open for anyone to hear.  
  
“Maybe,” Lexa finally responded quietly.  
  
_“Alright, I promise not to kiss you until we’re done with our homework.”_  
  
Lexa frowned at the suggestion, not knowing how to respond but more than sure that she wanted to at least greet Clarke with a small kiss given it had been a while since they’d shared one. Clarke seemed to understand Lexa’s silence as disagreement and offered an alternate suggestion.  
  
_“How about one kiss of appropriate length before homework and then long kisses afterwards?”_  
  
“Okay,” Lexa agreed that time and rounded the corner of the outdoor hallway that lead to her classroom.  
  
_“I’ll be there by five, and I’ll bring a pizza or something.”_  
  
“Sounds good,” Lexa said, giving into another small smile as she pictured Clarke smiling into her own phone as they spoke.  
  
They said their goodbyes and as soon as Lexa had slid her phone back into her bag, she noticed Mr. Kane waving at her from where he stood beside the door of the classroom she was headed towards. He was with another student, someone Lexa didn’t recognize, and appeared to be letting her know he’d be right back. Lexa watched as he smiled and began walking towards her, so she slowed her speed as they approached each other.  
  
“Lexa,” Marcus greeted her, “I was hoping I’d catch you before class started.”  
  
“Is something wrong?” Lexa asked, hoping there were no issues with her work or the paper she had just turned in earlier that week.  
  
“Nothing is wrong,” Marcus assured the girl, “I just wanted to ask whether you’d be interested in tutoring one of my students.”  
  
“Tutoring?” Lexa asked instinctively, never having thought she’d have been in the position to tutor someone her own age and in University nonetheless.  
  
“She’s a fourth year English major, very sharp and extremely well versed in the technicalities of the subject,” he explained, “but she’s having a little trouble grasping some of the subtleties of poetry.”  
  
Lexa lifted her head to nod in understanding but could barely do so before Marcus was speaking again.  
  
“She has a pretty important scholarship that’s in jeopardy of being revoked if her grade in my class falls too far, and we’re both afraid it will if she doesn’t do well on the trimester final coming up,” Marcus told Lexa. “Now your help wouldn’t go unnoticed. I can award you up to two extra English credits that you can apply towards the requirements of your majors which I’d be more than happy to give you if you’ll agree to the tutoring.”  
  
Lexa’s eyebrows jumped in reaction to the offer, and she began contemplating it quite seriously. The fact was that she didn’t have a lot of extra time in her schedule to take on a student to tutor, but being able to earn up to two additional credits on top of her full load was extremely appealing. She knew that every credit quickly earned at the beginning of her University career meant more room to breathe, figuratively speaking, at the end of her University career. A few shallow nods later, Lexa heard herself agreeing to the proposition that had been presented to her.  
  
“Okay,” she stated simply.  
  
“Excellent!” Marcus exclaimed as he clasped his hands together appreciatively before turning around and motioning for the student he’d been standing with earlier to come over.  
  
Lexa pushed up on her glasses as the girl walked towards them and let her hands fall to grasp the strap of her messenger bag. She shifted subtly on her feet and waited for Marcus to speak as it appeared he was so eager to.  
  
“Lexa, this is Costia,” Marcus said as he gestured towards the brunette.  
  
“It’s nice to meet you,” Lexa offered quietly as she extended her hand towards Costia.  
  
“You as well,” Costia replied, taking Lexa’s hand immediately and shaking it gently.  
  
“I’ll leave the two of you to make plans,” Marcus said as he took a step backwards. “Lexa, don’t be late for my class.”  
  
Lexa nodded in understanding, though she knew Marcus was only being partially serious. There would be no repercussions, at least not for her, for being a little late to his class but it certainly wasn’t something Lexa would ever feel comfortable doing. She swallowed and turned her attention back to a brightly smiling Costia and waited for her to speak.  
  
“I can’t thank you enough for agreeing to help me,” Costia said honestly.  
  
“It’s no problem,” Lexa tried to reassure her, knowing the senior might be feeling somewhat insecure to be getting tutored by a Freshman.  
  
“I don’t want to keep you from your class,” Costia said as she pointed towards the door Marcus had just disappeared through, “but maybe we can exchange numbers and figure out a time to get together in the next few days.”  
  
“Sure,” Lexa replied as she slipped her hand into her bag to retrieve her cell phone.  
  
After unlocking it and navigating to her call menu to create a new contact (as her number exchange encounter with Clarke had taught her to do), Lexa handed her phone over to Costia and took the phone being offered to her before punching in her first and last name along with her phone number. They shared a few more polite smiles, bid each other a good rest of their days, and finally parted ways just minutes before Lexa’s class started. As the period went on, Lexa’s thoughts departed from her new tutee and flitted back and forth between the topics being discussed in her English class and the image of her favorite blonde whom she just so happened to be seeing in a couple hours’ time.  
  
Suddenly her class couldn’t seem to end quickly enough.

* * *

  
Lexa couldn’t decide whether she was excited that Clarke knocked on her door earlier than she said she’d be over with pizza or if she was flustered by her lack of preparedness, but it was either one or the other that had her nervously scrambling from her bed and smoothing out the non-existent wrinkles in her clothes. Her room was always clean, partly in thanks to her equally as organized roommate, but Lexa being Lexa needed just as much time (maybe even more so) to mentally prepare herself for whatever situation was impending as she did to physically prepare. Another quick swipe of her cautious gaze around the room satisfied her enough to allow her to make her way over to the door and open it carefully. When she finally laid eyes on a smiling from ear-to-ear Clarke Griffin, Lexa knew without a doubt that _that_ time she was simply elated to be in the presence of her girlfriend.  
  
“Hey,” Clarke greeted, her smile never shrinking.  
  
“Hi,” Lexa replied with a small smile on her own lips before she stepped aside to let Clarke into her dorm room.  
  
“Hawaiian is what’s on the pizza menu tonight,” Clarke announced as she walked over to place their dinner on top of Lexa’s desk, “because I know it’s your favorite.”  
  
“You didn’t have to get that kind just because I like it,” Lexa offered quietly as she closed the door and turned to walk a few steps over to where Clarke was standing next to her desk.  
  
“I like what you like,” Clarke told her with a crooked grin. “Besides you could probably put socks on a pizza, and I’d still eat it.”  
  
Just the thought of that made Lexa’s face scrunch in disgust, much to Clarke’s amusement and delight, and it wasn’t a few seconds later that Clarke had leaned in and planted a quick but meaningful peck on Lexa’s full lips. Having completely forgotten her promise to limit their kisses to only one of greeting so they wouldn’t get distracted from starting on their homework, Clarke gasped in realization as she pulled away from Lexa’s lips and a look of urgency flashed across her face.  
  
“Wait, that didn’t count!” Clarke all but squealed. “I kissed you because you looked so cute with your nose all crinkled up, but I wanted to make our one kiss before studying count.”  
  
“Every kiss with you counts, Clarke,” Lexa replied in a voice barely louder than a whisper.  
  
And at that Clarke propelled herself forward again, capturing Lexa’s lips firmly between her own. A small sigh that turned into more of a moan came from deep in the back of Lexa’s throat as her hands fell to Clarke’s hips and Clarke’s arms came up to wrap around her neck. They deepened the kiss almost immediately and it was Clarke’s turn to let a whimper escape from her lips as their mouths danced smoothly against each other, caressing gently until both of them were nearly panting for breath. Clarke reluctantly pulled her lips away from Lexa’s, making sure to create that delicious popping sound as she did so that she knew Lexa loved if the way her lips always went limp towards the end of their kisses meant anything.  
  
“I love kissing you,” Clarke whispered against Lexa’s lips before tipping her face downwards to begin slowly peppering the soft skin of her neck with kisses, dragging her mouth lower with each one as she went.  
  
As Clarke traced her fingertips over Lexa’s shoulders and down her arms, a small but meaningful sigh filled the air around them as Lexa reveled in the feeling of Clarke’s lips pressing lightly against her skin. The fingers cupped around the curve of Clarke's hips suddenly sank deeper into her flesh as Lexa sucked in a breath at the sensation of a small nip at the base of her throat, and the reaction sent a rush of tingles straight through Clarke's chest, down between her legs, and tingling at the ends of her fingertips.  
  
“Cl–arke,” Lexa stuttered through her lustful haze. “Homework... I have...”  
  
She couldn't help herself if she had tried, but she didn't and Clarke's lips immediately pulled into a tight smile against the heated skin on Lexa's neck at the sound of the disjointed sentence. Clarke dragged her lips away from Lexa somewhat reluctantly and bit her lip as she looked up into darkened emerald eyes before speaking.  
  
“Practicing your Yoda impersonation?” Clarke teased, giving Lexa's shoulders a quick squeeze.  
  
A delicate but noticeable blush began to tinge the tops of Lexa's cheeks the most beautiful shade of pink, and Clarke just barely resisted the urge to lean forward to drop a gentle kiss atop of it.  
  
“I'm just kidding,” Clarke said quietly before taking a small step back from the blushing brunette. “Let's eat some of this pizza before it gets cold.”  
  
Lexa nodded and licked her lips, savoring every lingering taste of Clarke on them before making her way over toward Raven's mini refrigerator and pulling it open. She took out two cans of soda, one for each of them, and offered one to Clarke who took it gratefully. They munched contentedly on their pizza for a few minutes before Lexa dove right into her homework, diligently reading and taking notes as she continued to eat. Clarke did the same after quietly finishing her second piece of pizza, and a couple hours passed quicker than either of them realized.  
  
Clarke finally took notice of her stiff muscles from being hunched over her English book for too long and flipped it shut before pulling her earbuds from her ears that she had put in about an hour into their studying. There was something about music that helped slip out of the real world and focus even more intently on whatever it was that she was trying to concentrate on. Sometimes it was homework, sometimes it was a painting, and other times a soft and slow-paced song would help lull her to sleep if the thoughts in her head just wouldn't quiet down. She was more than convinced if she hadn't have closed herself off during her study session with Lexa that she would have given into her more entertaining desires rather than spend the time she knew Lexa needed studying along with her.  
  
As her ears adjusted to the silence of the room, Clarke looked over at her study partner who had apparently finished her homework since there wasn't a textbook in sight and was dozing quietly on her side of the mattress. A sweet smile began to spread onto Clarke's face as she put her own textbook aside and shuffled her body closer to Lexa's, careful not to jostle the bed too much and disturb her slumber.  
  
“I'm awake,” Lexa said in a faintly groggy voice.  
  
“That's too bad,” Clarke rasped as she pressed her body along Lexa's lazy form. “I was already imagining all the creative ways I could have tried to wake you up.”  
  
“Like what?” Lexa asked in a small voice.  
  
“You're awake,” Clarke replied, unable to hide the teasing tone in her words, “so the moment has passed.”  
  
“I haven't opened my eyes yet,” Lexa informed her quietly, hopefully.  
  
“When did you finish your homework?” Clarke asked as she lowered her lips to brush gently against Lexa's jaw.  
  
“About a half an hour ago,” Lexa managed to say as Clarke planted another languid kiss a little further down.  
  
“What?” Clarke suddenly gasped, taking her lips away from Lexa's skin and peering down into green eyes that had just begin to flutter open. “You mean we could have been making out for the last thirty minutes but instead you left me studying?”  
  
“Well,” Lexa began hesitantly, “you still had homework to get done, and I didn't want to interrupt you.”  
  
The huff of disapproval caught in her throat, and Clarke instead let an appreciative smile curl the ends of her lips as she slid a leg between Lexa's and cupped a hand around her waist. There was nothing more Clarke had wanted to do than spend the evening kissing Lexa, touching her, hearing her, and she was pretty sure that if Lexa was just a smidgen less studious than she was that they would have forgotten their studies altogether and done just that. The girl's patience and consideration could win awards, and Clarke suddenly began to doubt herself on whether she even deserved someone so amazing.  
  
“What are you thinking?”  
  
Clarke barely heard the question, asked with shyness and reservation, but snapped out of the depths of her own mind when she felt a gentle swipe of fingertips against the swell of her cheek. The simple touch, so soft and meaningful, sent a feeling of butterflies swirling around in Clarke's stomach as she averted her gaze but leaned her face into Lexa's hand.  
  
_I love you._  
  
“Just that...” Clarke trailed off.  
  
_I think love you._  
  
“I...”  
  
_I know I love you._  
  
“... can't believe how lucky I got,” Clarke finally settled on, “finding you.”  
  
_I love you._  
  
A small slip of Lexa's hand from Clarke's cheek up into her blonde curls brought their lips together. They kissed, gently at first, but it soon made way for heat and passion as mouths parted and tongues danced. Clarke moved her left hand to rest high on Lexa's sternum before pulling it down slowly between her breasts and over her stomach until it reached the top of Lexa's pants. A small sound close to a whimper escaped Lexa's lips as they continued to kiss, and Clarke quickly slipped her fingers underneath Lexa's shirt and slowly caressed the soft skin now available to her.  
  
As Clarke drew her fingers up the smooth arches and dips of Lexa's ribs cage, she felt her own body begin to react to the urgency of the plump lips against her own. She stilled her hand to focus solely on the feeling of their kiss, sighing quietly as she captured Lexa's bottom lip between her teeth before releasing it with a soft pop. Clarke continued the journey of her wandering hand underneath Lexa's shirt and let out an uncensored moan as her fingers bumped directly into the soft swell of her bare breast, uninhibited by the bra she was expecting to be there.  
  
“Oh, fuck,” Clarke half-whispered and half-groaned as she immediately cupped Lexa's chest, delighting in the reaction she elicited from the brunette at the action.  
  
Their lips reconnected as Clarke squeezed the rounded flesh in her hand before swiping the pad of her thumb over a straining nipple. Lexa arched into Clarke's touch and reached out to wrap her hand around Clarke's elbow, a silent plea for the blonde to stay right where she was at least for the time being. Another sound bubbled its way from Lexa's lungs and disappeared into their kiss as Clarke continued caressing every inch, every curve, every supple contour of the breast beneath her hand until Lexa finally seemed to remember her own hands were capable of doing so much more than they were at that moment.  
  
Clarke sighed into the long brunette tresses she had tucked her face into as Lexa's hands slipped over her backside and kneaded cautiously. A hurried request came from Clarke's lips, to which Lexa simply nodded, and Clarke went to work on unbuttoning the shirt she had just been given permission to take off. The sight that greeted her once the soft plaid shirt finally revealed what had been hidden underneath it was one of which Clarke knew she would never tire. Lexa remained lying below her, chest heaving with anticipation and stained with the same perfect hue of pink Clarke knew was dusting the tops of Lexa's cheeks as well.  
  
A heavy rush of hot breath pushed itself from Lexa's lungs at the first touch of the tip of Clarke's tongue running across her left nipple before two lips closed loosely around it. She almost protested at the loss of warmth as Clarke pulled her mouth back but was quickly relieved when she felt a small kiss placed along the underside of her breast. Followed by another. And another. Steady heavy breathing turned ragged as Clarke dragged her lips around the entire swell of flesh, taking utmost care to keep away from the sensitive bud that was straining for more attention.  
  
“Clarke,” Lexa breathed out desperately, her fingers winding themselves through curly blonde locks in an attempt to steer Clarke's lips back to exactly where she wanted them.  
  
But before either of them had even the slightest chance to change course, the door of Lexa's dorm room swung open with no hesitation to leave a Zero-G Mechanics student gaping widely at the sight that greeted her as if she was a deer who had been caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. Luckily for all of them Raven's reaction time was lightening fast, and even if her legs couldn't keep up to the demands of her brain, her quick hands were enough to shield her vision from the sight she knew she wasn't supposed to see almost immediately.  
  
“Shit, sorry!” Raven immediately apologized as she reached blindly for the door handle as Clarke scrambled off Lexa who was frantically wrapping her unbuttoned shirt back around herself.  
  
As Clarke rolled away from her furiously blushing girlfriend, she couldn't help but feel somewhat irritated at the ill-timed intrusion. She had been enjoying herself thoroughly and had only just begun to realize how worked up their makeout session had left her. She took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh, stealing a glance over at Lexa who had just finished buttoning her shirt before quickly turning her body to smash her heated face into a pillow in order to cover her obvious embarrassment at getting caught by her roommate during what was originally intended to be a private moment.  
  
“It was bound to happen,” Clarke said reassuringly as she lowered a hand to Lexa's back and rubbed softly. “She probably didn't see anything anyways.”  
  
A muffled groan sounded from where Lexa's face was buried into her pillow, and Clarke giggled quietly.  
  
“As much as I don't want to leave, I probably should,” Clarke said quietly as she shifted herself away from Lexa. “We both have classes in the morning, and Raven probably wants to come back into her room at some point tonight.”  
  
“Yeah,” Lexa agreed quietly, finally having come out from her hiding place against her pillow.  
  
They both slipped off the bed, and Clarke got to work packing up her textbooks while Lexa grabbed her glasses from the bedside table where she had placed them before taking her nap and lifted them back onto her face before awkwardly smoothing out her clothing and pulling a hand through her hair. Clarke planted a series of quick pecks against Lexa's lips as they whispered their goodbyes, and Lexa prepared herself for the onslaught of Raven's teasing as Clarke opened the door and walked out into the hallway.

* * *

  
“Hey, you wore it!” Clarke said enthusiastically as she pointed to the Polis University sweatshirt Lexa had on. “It looks good on you.”  
  
“Thanks,” Lexa replied shyly as a small smile tugged at one corner of her mouth.  
  
Clarke had bought each of them a sweatshirt to wear on the night of the big Push Bowl game that weekend and had replayed in her mind countless times the memory of the expression on Lexa's face when she had been presented with the gift. It was as if the gesture was the kindest and most considerate ever to have been offered to her, even though Clarke knew that was far from the case. It just showed her how little Lexa took for granted, and it made her fall what she thought was even more in love with the quiet girl.  
  
They had all agreed to meet at the game, figuring it would be easier that way, and it was discussed that whoever got their first would save seats in the bleachers for the rest of the group. Clarke and Octavia were slightly shocked that they were the first ones to arrive, even after making a pit stop at Grounders to each get a cup of coffee to go, but they quickly snatched up six seats in a row towards the middle of the field. Clarke and Octavia had been too busy chatting to notice Raven and Lexa rounding the corner of the bleachers to scan the crowd for familiar faces.  
  
Lexa had been far less nervous climbing the stairs to their seats for that game than she had been at the baseball game she'd gone to with Clarke the previous year, but a few always-present tingles of trepidation ran through her body with each step she took. Raven awkwardly brushed past Clarke to find a seat beside Octavia, who cursed at her for stepping on her foot in the process, leaving Lexa to the aisle seat right next to Clarke.  
  
“Now that I've regained the feeling back in my toes,” Octavia quipped as she glared over at Raven, “does anyone want anything from concessions before the game starts?”  
  
“Don't go blaming me for the fact that your little piggies aren't so little,” Raven retorted.  
  
“What is that supposed to mean?” Octavia asked as she snapped her head over towards Raven.  
  
“The sheer number of things I have to explain to you on a daily basis makes me seriously terrified of this University's screening method for new students,” Raven said to an offended looking Octavia, “and it means that you have feet the size of boats.”  
  
“What?!” Octavia all but screeched. “I do not!”  
  
“Yeah, you really do,” Raven replied with a strong nod.  
  
“I don't,” Octavia said.  
  
“You do,” Raven answered.  
  
“Is it just me or does the quality of their bickering decrease as the school year goes on?” Clarke said as she leaned over to speak into Lexa's ear.  
  
“What was that, Princess?” Octavia questioned, thinking she had overheard her best friend talking about her.  
  
“Nothing,” Clarke said as she shrugged her shoulders in feigned innocence.  
  
“Hey, guys!” Monty greeted as he climbed the stairs of the bleachers with a smiling Harper trailing closely behind him.  
  
“Hey,” Lexa replied with a smile on her face that only grew when her best friend complimented her sweatshirt as he passed by to find a seat.  
  
“So what school do we play against?” Harper asked as she settled into her seat beside Raven.  
  
“Azgeda Tech,” Raven said as she fumbled around in her purse for something. “They're vicious on the field. Last year our quarterback was sacked so hard he had to leave the game.”  
  
“Ouch,” Monty said while cringing.  
  
“Yeah, the dude who took him out was suspended for the rest of the season because it was an illegal hit,” Raven explained before her face lit up with a smirk as she pulled a shiny silver flask out of her purse. “Who's ready for a pre-game shot?”  
  
“Me,” Octavia piped up quickly. “I need something to take the chill out of my bones.”  
  
“You'll probably need more than just one shot to do that but whatever,” Raven quipped as she handed the flask over to the brunette.  
  
“Just give me the damn booze,” Octavia snapped as she took the bottle and raised it to her lips.  
  
Clarke snickered at her friend and gratefully took the flask when it was presented to her, eagerly draining some liquid from it to help warm her body. Autumn was in the air, and the crispness of the evening was only bearable without the presence of heavy jackets due to the complete lack of wind that the forecast had promised. With the sun already set though, the aid of a little alcohol wasn't altogether unwelcome and everyone in the group partook of a generous swig of it before Raven secured the cap back onto it and tossed it back into her purse.  
  
“Do you know much about football?” Clarke asked Lexa after the players on the home team had all been introduced and the official was explaining the starting coin toss to the crowd.  
  
“No,” Lexa answered honestly.  
  
“I know some stuff but not a lot,” Clarke confessed with a shrug. “As you know, baseball is more my game than anything else.”  
  
Lexa nodded in understanding and fought the urge to let a goofy grin spread across her lips as Clarke reached out to tangle their fingers together. She was however momentarily stunned when a pair of soft lips landed on her own, and her eyes fluttered closed at the contact. She finally opened them after a few seconds of feeling nothing but cool evening air against her lips and was met with the sight of Clarke smirking sweetly at her.  
  
“What was that for?” Lexa asked, almost in a whisper.  
  
“No reason,” Clarke replied as she lowered her gaze to Lexa's lips and was pleased to see them begin to stretch into the shy smile she seemed to always crave seeing.  
  
After Raven had surprised the group with another full flask from her purse (and the promise there was a high probability that a third flask was hidden somewhere on her), it was passed around the group quickly partly due to both Clarke and Lexa turning down additional shots. Lexa was sure she wanted to be in control of her actions during the game and certainly didn't want to get ahead of herself before the long night of Push Bowl after parties started afterwards. She wasn't altogether sure why Clarke had turned down the alcohol though, but it wasn't something Lexa would complain about.  
  
“I think I need a hotdog or something,” Harper announced to the group.  
  
“Yeah, I'm getting hungry too,” Monty agreed. “Does anyone else want anything?”  
  
“Would you like me to get you something?” Lexa asked Clarke nervously, still fidgety when it came to making sure she was being a thoughtful girlfriend.  
  
“Cotton candy if they have it,” Clarke answered with a smile, at which Lexa nodded lightly.  
  
Their fingers slipped away from one another's as Lexa stood from her seat and took a few steps out into the aisle to wait for Monty to cross over the sitting girls as carefully has he could. Clarke watched as they shared a smile before turning to head down the stairs and towards the concession stands. She sighed dreamily as the last flash of brunette hair graced her vision before it disappeared around the corner, which was quickly followed by a mocking chuckle from her left side.  
  
“You're ridiculous,” Octavia said as she shook her head teasingly from side to side.  
  
“I am not,” Clarke defended herself lamely and folded her arms across her chest.  
  
“You probably sprained your eyeballs from the insane amounts of heart eyes you were just giving her, Clarke,” Raven chimed in.  
  
“Whatever,” Clarke mumbled as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat as all three of her friends stared at her.  
  
“I think it's cute,” Harper spoke up as she flashed a knowing smirk over at Clarke.  
  
“Even though I can almost choke on all the fluff,” Octavia began, “I'd take heart eyes over eye fucking.”  
  
“Octavia!” Clarke scolded her friend along with a swat to her shoulder.  
  
“So how often do you guys do it?” Harper asked quietly, leaning far over Raven so as not to be overheard by the students sitting around them.  
  
Clarke's mouth dropped open at the question before she turned a sharp glare towards her best friend who quickly raised her hands in surrender.  
  
“I didn't tell her,” Octavia said, knowing that was exactly what Clarke had assumed happened.  
  
“Lexa told Monty, and Monty told me,” Harper said with a slightly apologetic look on her face.  
  
“So everybody knows,” Clarke said in disbelief.  
  
“Raven didn't,” Octavia pointed out only to be met with a guilty look flashed across Clarke's face, and she snapped her head over to Raven. “Wait, you know? Who told you?”  
  
“No one,” Clarke piped up, sighing as she tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “She walked in on... a moment.”  
  
“I saw Lexa's boob,” Raven stated with an easy shrug, leaving Octavia and Harper gaping at her in shock.  
  
“Shhhh!” Clarke hissed as she waved her hands wildly at Raven before glancing around to see if anyone had overheard. She lowered her voice to a harsh whisper and leaned over Octavia to speak directly to Raven. “You did _not_ see her boob, and if Lexa hears you tell people that she will die of embarrassment!”  
  
“Well, I would have seen it if your head wasn't in the way,” Raven said with a teasing sparkle in her eye.  
  
As Harper as Octavia burst into a fit of giggles, Clarke's face lit up with a rosy blush which only served as another thing for the girls to poke fun at. Clarke huffed with annoyance as a few more suggestive remarks were voiced until she'd had enough and opened her mouth to speak again.  
  
“Maybe we should talk about someone else's sex life for a while?” Clarke suggested defiantly before looking back and forth between Octavia and Raven.  
  
“What? _We_ haven't had sex,” Octavia blurted between nervous laughs.  
  
“Yeah, I'm not that desperate, Clarke,” Raven added quickly before being jabbed in the ribs by Octavia's elbow.  
  
Clarke narrowed her eyes at the pair before settling on Octavia's shocked expression for a moment, trying to figure out what had just happened in the short span of the previous few seconds. She watched as Octavia sunk a little further into her chair before Monty's voice cut through their silence as he appeared at their row with a box in one hand and a tray of fountain drinks in the other.  
  
“They had a half-dozen deal on hotdogs, so I just got one for all of us,” Monty explained as he raised the arm holding the box.  
  
“Thanks, babe,” Harper said with a wide smile as he made his way past the girls to his seat.  
  
“Where's Lexa?” Clarke questioned, finally tearing her attention away from her oddly-acting best friend.  
  
“She's talking to Costia,” Monty said as he handed the tray of drinks to Harper who began handing them out.  
  
“Who's Costia?” Clarke asked as she scrunched her eyebrows together and steadied her gaze onto Monty.  
  
“The girl Lexa is tutoring,” Monty replied as he tipped his head down towards the field where Lexa was standing and talking to someone.  
  
Clarke followed Monty's line of sight and looked down to see Lexa and a beautiful brunette having a friendly conversation if the smile on the other girl's face was anything to go by. A few seconds passed as Clarke studied the pair, tilting her head as she looked over the stranger and squinted her eyes as a wave of recognition began to slowly spill over her. A swift slap of Octavia's hand against her arm brought her out of her thoughts, and Clarke felt her mouth drop open the second she realized who the girl was.  
  
“Clarke,” Octavia began in an overly-dramatic tone of voice, “that's the girl from the orientation tour.”  
  
“Yeah,” Clarke agreed quietly.  
  
“Wait,” Octavia interjected as she leaned into Clarke's personal space, “Lexa's tutoring super hot orientation girl, and she didn't tell you?”  
  
“Did she tell _you_?” Clarke asked Monty, ignoring her best friend's question for the moment.  
  
“No, I just found out a second ago when we ran into her by the field,” Monty answered quickly.  
  
“Lexa is in _trouble_ ,” Octavia sing-songed as she lifted her eyebrows comically high, eliciting a few sympathetic expressions from the others.  
  
Clarke continued to steal glances at the two women below, completely ignoring her best friend's comment for the time being, and scrunched her eyebrows together as she wondered how long Lexa had been tutoring. A dull silence took over the group as Clarke retreated into her own little quiet place as she tried to sort through the thoughts running around in her head, wondering above all else whether she should confront her girlfriend about the situation or simply let it be and wait for Lexa to bring it up on her own.

Little did she know her friends would have no problem making that decision for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Costia, Costia, Costia. I have so many mixed feels about this referenced canon character, but I did have her specifically in mind when I wrote the description of the orientation tour guide in the previous installment of this series. I'm not sold on the "Bitch on Wheels" version of her in a lot of fics I read because I can't help but think that if canon Lexa fell in love with her, there must have been something good about her. So in my story, she will be more of a sweet puppy than anything else but that doesn't stop her from unknowingly causing a bit of Clexa angst. Anyways, feel free to take her how you will :)
> 
> I treasure your comments and always take the time to respond to each of you, so if you feel like sharing something about the story, the current chapter, want to ask a question, or all of the above... you are more than welcome to do that below! Thank you as always for reading.
> 
> (Find me on Twitter @MsDorisDaisy and Tumblr MsDorisDaisy)


	2. Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly, please note that the last paragraph of the previous chapter has been slightly re-written and the story summary has been edited. I had really hoped not to stir up debate over certain emotions of certain characters as the main plot theme this time around was meant to be more about leading up to Clexa's three little word confessions, so I hope I'm now able to convey that over the next two chapters in this story. Secondly, please do enjoy :)

“She’s not in trouble, O,” Clarke said as she turned towards Octavia and gave her a hard glare.

The initial surprise of the situation had begun to wear off, leaving Clarke wanting nothing more than for her friends to just  _drop it_ but knew it wouldn’t be quite as easy as that. She was convinced now more than ever before that every single one of them was a drama queen or king with little to no regard for personal space and, whether they meant well or not, always seemed to meddle with what they had no rights to.

“You don’t care that Lexa is in cahoots with super-hot orientation girl for who knows how long and never told you about it?” Raven piped in before taking a giant bite out of her hotdog.

“She’s been tutoring someone,” Clarke told the group, “not dating them behind my back.”

“Yeah, guys,” Harper came to the rescue, “Lexa isn’t like that.”

“It’s true,” Monty chimed in. “She wouldn’t do that to you, Clarke.”

“I know, I never said she would!” Clarke said through an exasperated sigh.

“What about the common girlfriend courtesy?” Octavia asked as her friends all turned their heads to look at her to continue. “You guys don’t think Lexa should have told Clarke about the hot student she’s tutoring?”

“Why should she? It’s not like she’s doing anything wrong,” Monty answered immediately.

“We’re not saying she is,” Raven said, “but she could have at least kept Clarke in the loop.”

“Okay, do I get a say in any of this?” Clarke asked, her head tilt accentuating the attitude in her voice.

The entire group of friends fell silent, munching on their hotdogs and sipping on their drinks as they looked at Clarke and waited for her to continue. The blonde flicked her gaze back down to Lexa and Costia still chatting before taking a deep breath and turning her attention back to her friends.

“It’s almost finals week,” Clarke told them with a shrug of her shoulders. “She’s double majoring and minoring, so there’s probably a good chance that she just forgot to mention it with all the other things she’s busy with right now.”

A chorus of disapprovals rang out down the line of bleachers, and Clarke finally had to waive her hands at her friends to signal them to stop talking.

“I don’t want to hear it, okay?” Clarke told them. “Just save your opinions for your own relationships.”

“Princess Peach has spoken,” Raven concluded the debate, and the subject was dropped.

For the time being.

Clarke had nothing against the girl. She was nothing more than a stranger, an acquaintance perhaps since Clarke _had_ informally met her during the orientation tour she and Octavia had taken their first day on campus, but that fact didn't seem to ease the slight uneasiness settling over Clarke as she watched the two brunettes chatting by the football field sideline directly in front of her line of vision. A small and unexpected twinge of what she thought might be jealousy pinched in her chest as Clarke saw Costia place a gentle hand on Lexa's arm, letting it linger there to gently caress the soft fabric of the sweatshirt beneath it for a few moments too long.

She hadn’t even noticed herself standing from her seat in the bleachers until Clarke saw the soft gaze of her girlfriend catch her own from where she stood at the edge of the playing field below. As realization of her quick movement suddenly dawned on her, Clarke sat back down even faster than she had stood up which was all much to the amusement of Octavia who had witnessed the entire spastic episode.

“Practicing those hard-to-master standing skills?” Octavia teased as she once again leaned over into Clarke’s space.

“Shut up,” Clarke huffed in annoyance before quickly sucking in a deep breath as she watched Lexa begin climbing the stairs after Costia had apparently excused herself and headed out towards the concessions.

Lexa flashed Clarke a small smile as she finally reached their row and sat down before promptly handing a large bag of pink cotton candy over to her.

“Thanks,” Clarke said quietly, taking the sugary treat from Lexa’s hand and setting it in her lap.

“I thought we could share the drink,” Lexa mentioned as she lifted the cup of Diet Coke she had in her hand but faltered when Clarke looked at it through what appeared to be a concerned expression on her face. “If you’d like you own, I can go back and get another one...”

“Oh, no... that’s... fine,” Clarke finally managed to stutter out along with a lopsided smile.

“Are you sure?” Lexa questioned hesitantly as she studied Clarke’s expression. “Because I–”

“I’m sure,” Clarke gently interrupted and reached out to grab the cup from Lexa’s hand to take a small sip as if to prove her point.

Clarke handed the cup back to the still somewhat confused brunette and let her own hands fall to the plastic bag of cotton candy, picking absentmindedly along one of the seams as her thoughts began to wander again.

“So, um,” Clarke started before clearing her throat and continuing, “who were you talking to?”

The question earned a small chuff from Octavia who had obviously been eavesdropping, and Clarke barely managed to control herself from rolling her eyes in disapproval of her best friend’s nosiness as she waited for Lexa to respond.

“Costia,” Lexa replied assuredly. “I’m tutoring her for the AALP final.”

Clarke nodded her head at the recognition of the acronym Lexa had just used, knowing it stood for Advanced American Literature and Poetry which happened to Mr. Kane's class she knew Lexa was taking.

“I didn’t know you wanted to be a tutor... here... in college,” Clarke pieced her sentence together, sighing in frustration at herself after she’d finally spit it out.

“Mr. Kane asked me if I was interested,” Lexa started to explain, “and Costia’s scholarship is in jeopardy.”

“When did he ask you?” Raven asked, and Clarke promptly elbowed Octavia in the ribs.

“Ow!” Octavia said as she flinched. “I didn’t even say anything!”

“Well?” Raven prodded Lexa further, earning her a sharp slap to her shoulder from Octavia.

“Um, a f–few days ago,” Lexa answered quietly as she looked over at Raven.

Clarke suddenly reached for the cup in Lexa's hand, taking it from her and sucking down a few long swigs of the drink as everyone looked on in somewhat comical silence. All eyes were on Clarke as if they were waiting for something dramatic to happen, for a bomb to drop or something to explode, but alas nothing happened. Lexa moved her hand up to straighten her glasses before looking back at Clarke who was now holding their cup out for Lexa to take back.

"Should someone tell her about the common girlfriend courtesy?" Octavia whispered to Raven.

"You tell her," Raven whispered back. "It's your dumb concept."

"Dumb concept?" Octavia shot back at full volume, making Clarke roll her eyes and stand up suddenly.

"Leave it alone, please," Clarke told her friends before walking past Lexa to head down the bleacher stairs.

Lexa's heart dropped, not knowing what was happening, but feeling as if she was involved in some way that she still didn't quite understand. She watched as Clarke continued slowly climbing down the stairs towards the bottom of the field before turning towards Raven and Octavia as if she was silently asking for advice on what she should do.

“Well, go after her!” Octavia instructed as if it was the most obvious thing she’d ever said.

Lexa stood from her seat immediately but was halted from moving anywhere by a strong hand wrapped around her wrist. When she looked down to see Octavia holding onto her, Lexa furrowed her eyebrows but waited for an explanation regardless.

“Take this,” Octavia told Lexa as she handed her the bag of cotton candy Clarke had left on her seat. “She’s a sucker for sweets.”

Lexa managed a shallow nod as she took the plastic bag in her left hand and turned to leave.

“Wait!” Octavia interjected once more, prompting an increasingly nervous Lexa to turn back around to face her. “Give me the cup, give me the cup.”

Lexa automatically obeyed as Octavia took it gratefully before finally dismissing Lexa to go after Clarke. As the flustered brunette began down the stairs, Octavia indulged in a few hearty swigs of the ice cold beverage before looking down her row to see Raven, Harper, and Monty all looking at her curiously.

“What?” Octavia asked with a shrug. “I like Diet Coke better than Sprite. No offense, Monty.”

“None taken,” Monty replied with a small shrug of his own.

“You’re unbelievable,” Raven added as she shook her head at Octavia in disbelief.

“Finally starting to see things from my perspective, I see,” Octavia quipped, shooting Raven a wink and taking a few more sips of her newly acquired drink.

“Hey,” Harper began as she leaned over towards Monty, “so you’re not tutoring anyone, are you?”

“Monty is in _trouble_ ,” Octavia mimicked her earlier joke, and Raven couldn’t stop herself from chuckling along.

The muffled conversations of the crowd were the only things drowning out the rhythmic thumping of Lexa’s heart as she cautiously stepped down each stair to bring herself closer to where she had watched Clarke disappear. She lost sight of the blonde hair that she'd grown to love when Clarke had rounded the corner of the bleachers, but Lexa was happy to find her again when she finally rounded the corner herself.

Their gazes met and Clarke offered a shy but reassuring smile as she took a few steps towards an adorably flustered Lexa who had stopped mid-stride just off to the side of the main flow of the traffic where people were quickly moving from the bleachers to the concession stands and back to the bleachers again. Her throat was parched as she swallowed, but Lexa managed to get a few words out regardless.

“Did I do something wrong?” Lexa asked, her voice tiny and her eyes wide with uncertainty.

Clarke's lips pulled into the smallest of pouts as she raised her hand to entwine her fingers with Lexa's, hoping the move would work to ease her girlfriend's mind a bit if the perplexed look on her face was anything for Clarke to go by.

“No,” Clarke answered softly. “Our friends are just too nosy for their own good sometimes.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think _they think_ I should be mad at you for not telling me that you took on a student to tutor,” Clarke said as she took another step into Lexa’s space.

“Oh,” Lexa whispered as her face dropped and her eyes seemed to glaze over with guilt.

“I’m not,” Clarke quickly interjected, her voice soft and gentle. “But I do wish you’d want to tell me things like this.”

Lexa said nothing as she continued peering into Clarke’s clear blue eyes as if she had been hypnotized. In reality, she was simply at a loss for words as a situation like this had never been presented to her before. Her friendship with Monty had only ever consisted of conversation relevant to the topic at hand; meaning if they were talking about space, Lexa wouldn’t suddenly bring up that her construction foreman father had just locked down a new site to supervise. Only when the topic came up, if it ever did, would Lexa share something like that with him. So hearing that Clarke was genuinely interested in her day to day life was something new for her, and Lexa knew it would take a little time to get used to being the one taking initiative to share such things. She was still searching Clarke’s face as if it held the cheat-sheet for how she should respond, but, as if Clarke could sense her uneasiness, she spoke up once again.

“I like knowing what’s going on in your life,” Clarke explained, “and I like when you talk.”

At that, Lexa smiled lightly as she remembered exactly when Clarke had said that to her the first time when they were about to tour the University art studio that Clarke (along with her other classmates) had been granted access to at any time of the day or night. A soft squeeze of their clasped hands brought Lexa back to the present, and a second later she heard herself speak.

“I’ll talk more,” Lexa offered quietly.

“Good,” Clarke replied through a wide smile and leaned forward to press a quick peck on Lexa’s lips.

A small flutter ran through Clarke’s chest as she pulled her face away to see Lexa’s eyes still closed as if she'd been hoping for another kiss, but they finally blinked open slowly and gazed softly down on Clarke’s mouth before flicking back up to her eyes. When they both took a small step away from each other was when Clarke noticed her bag of cotton candy securely gripped in Lexa’s free hand, and she raised a solitary eyebrow in question before speaking.

“You brought my cotton candy along?” Clarke asked playfully, prompting Lexa to look down at the ball of pink fluff she was holding.

“Oh, um,” Lexa began quietly, “Octavia told me you’re a sucker for sweets.”

“She’s right about that,” Clarke replied with a sneaky smirk as she looped her arms around Lexa's neck. “ _You_ have got to be the sweetest girl I’ve ever known, and I’m definitely a sucker for you.”

Another few chaste kisses were shared, leaving a bashfully brushing brunette at Clarke’s side before they walked hand-in-hand back to their seats to enjoy the rest of the infamous Push Bowl football game which ultimately ended in an epic 21-0 win for Polis University.

* * *

 

According to Raven's research and of course her past personal experience, the best Push Bowl party on campus was the one thrown on the rooftop of the Kappa Delta sorority house. The structure itself was once a fully operational paper press that published local city newspapers and an occasional short novel or two until a machine fire laid waste to more than half of the building. It remained vacant, abandoned, for years until an up-and-coming sorority purchased the building outright (thanks to its members' healthy trust funds) and the entire building was repaired and completely renovated. The handful of students who were lucky enough to make it into the house each year were always refreshingly diverse but for one commonality.

Money.

Lots and lots of money.

If anything could be said for University students who had endless supplies of cash, it was that they knew how to party. The ‘sisters’ spared no expense when throwing their famous campus bashes, and students who were granted access by the honest-to-goodness actual real life bouncers came to expect nothing but top-notch bartenders, entertainers, and caterers. As the group of friends (some of whom were already slightly buzzed from sipping the contents of Raven's flasks during the football game) neared the sorority house, they naturally gathered themselves into pairs of two as they waited patiently for admittance.

Identification was checked and color coordinated stamps were pressed onto the backs of everyone's hands, making clear which party goers were legally allowed to drink. Official campus parties were never granted permission to serve alcohol to minors, but it was more of an unspoken understanding that party hosts wouldn't get in the way of legal drinkers discreetly slipping adult beverages to their younger friends which was exactly why Raven had made her way over to an older fellow classmate the moment they all were ushered inside.

“She's nothing if not resourceful,” Monty commented as he tipped his head towards the Zero-G Mechanics student who looked to be rattling off a drink order to her friend.

“If only that would be enough to counteract the hundreds of annoying qualities about her,” Octavia said with a scoff before flipping her hair over her shoulder.

“Seriously, O, what is your deal with her?” Clarke asked her best friend as she leaned over into her space while keeping one of her hands firmly tangled with one of Lexa's. “What did she do to get on your bad side so quickly?”

“She's just so...” Octavia started to say as she gazed over at the brunette across the room, “she's just...”

“She's just?” Harper piped up from her spot standing beside Monty.

“She gets under my skin,” Octavia finished with a huff as she tore her eyes away from the girl being discussed. “She acts like she owns the world and everyone in it. She's bossy and headstrong, and I just feel like... like... it's my duty to take her down a few pegs.”

“It's not your duty,” Clarke tried to reason with her best friend.

“It's a personal challenge then,” Octavia offered back. “I mean, I won't deny she can meet me punch-for-punch which actually just makes her all the more appealing.”

Clarke, Monty, Harper, and Lexa all turned their heads to look straight at Octavia after she muttered the last part of her mumbled statement before the brunette was quickly backtracking on what she had just said.

“Appealing, as in, easy to argue with,” Octavia recovered lamely.

Clarke narrowed her eyes as she caught Octavia's gaze but didn't have the time to say anything in response before Raven was interrupting the group, expertly gripping the rims of six red Solo cups filled with what smelled to be a lethal concoction of pure alcohol. They each took a cup before warily catching their friends’ eyes in a look that clearly communicated their hesitations while Raven tipped her cup towards the group and offered a cheer.

“To partying Push Bowl style, bitches!”

They watched on as Raven drained her cup and let out a whoop of excitement before each of them turned to their own cups to do the same. The burn of the liquid left each of them squinting in pain and disgust, resembling every University student who lived at least one proper day of the college lifestyle during their educational career. Lexa had already begun to feel a little lightheaded from the alcohol, and she was eternally grateful when Clarke had suggested they all make their way up to the rooftop and away from the hot and crowded main floor.

“Whoa,” Monty breathed out in a long sigh as they stepped up to the brick railing along the edge of the rooftop and looked out over the campus below.

“This is amazing,” Clarke added as she took in the view for herself.

A small hum of contentment tickled her chest as she felt Lexa wrap her arms around her from behind, a bold public display of affection she hadn't expected from the normally shy brunette. Clarke was far from complaining though and leaned into Lexa's arms until their bodies were pressed flush. A faint breeze wafted around them and Lexa found herself nuzzling her face into Clarke's curls, inhaling deeply the flowery vanilla scent she had fallen in love with months ago.

“Hey, is that guy wearing an actual toga?” Harper asked as she spotted a fellow student strolling towards the campus square sporting what appeared to be a white bed sheet that had been bunched and sewn to mimic the traditional ancient Roman costume.

“That's Miller!” Raven exclaimed, thrusting a finger towards the toga-wearing man. “ _Yo_ , Miller!”

At the echo of Raven's voice from the rooftop above, Nathan Miller slowed his pace and looked up to meet Raven's gaze with a beaming smile.

“I didn't peg you for Greek!” Raven shouted in jest.

“Alpha Phi Omega, baby!” Miller yelled back as he flashed his fraternity house's hand sign.

Raven responded by letting out a rather piercingly loud wolf whistle, at which Miller smirked and graced his audience with a suggestive pose before he continued on his way to the party just down the street. Clarke watched as the student walked away and tried to reconcile the strange feeling of familiarity she was sensing. Before she should dwell any further on it, Clarke was instantly pulled from her thoughts as she felt Lexa's hands slide across her stomach to rest firmly on either side of her hips.

The move was gently insistent, as if Lexa was making sure Clarke's attention didn't linger on toga guy for too long, and it sent a jolt of excitement through her body. She leaned further back into Lexa's touch, pressing the swell of her backside directly into Lexa's hips, and delighted when she heard a small hitch of breath in her ear. Clarke had to bite back the smile that was tugging at the corners of her mouth and eased forward again so as not to overwhelm Lexa with all of their friends standing around.

“Maybe I should pledge a fraternity,” Monty suddenly offered aloud, earning a few surprised looks from the group.

Lexa's eyebrows shot up at the statement, but she said nothing as Harper looked at her boyfriend approvingly.

“You would look so hot in a toga,” Harper teased as Monty's cheeks began to turn a light shade of pink.

Lexa's eyebrows immediately fell and scrunched together as the visual of her best friend in a toga flashed across her mind, and Clarke couldn't help but chuckle at her girlfriend's reaction. She would probably have reacted the same way if Lincoln (or whoever) had said something similar to Octavia while she'd been around; it was never a pleasant thought to imagine your best platonic friend as anything other than just that.

“I can hook you up with Miller's number if you want to ask him about it,” Raven offered as she turned her attention towards Monty. “Rush week is already over, but he could talk to you about pledging next year if you really wanted to.”

“Yeah, maybe I'll take you up on that,” Monty said with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Cool,” Raven replied with a single nod. “Miller's a great guy. I've known him for ages.”

Clarke's wandering gaze caught Octavia who looked to be highly uncomfortable at that very moment if the way she purposefully kept avoiding eye contact with her best friend said anything. The conversation continued around her as Clarke stared at her fidgeting best friend and tried to figure out what exactly was happening. Her mind was working overtime to try and piece it all together, but Clarke had no idea what it was she was trying to figure out. It was most likely due to the haze of the alcohol she'd consumed over the course of the night that slowed her thought process down, but it finally dawned on Clarke why toga guy looked so familiar.

“Octavia!” Clarke suddenly shouted, excitedly enough to cause all of her friends to turn their attention towards her. “That was the guy from orientation! The guy you thought was so hot!”

“You think Miller is hot?” Raven asked Octavia who was suddenly looking a bit nauseous.

“I, uh...” Octavia began to say as her eyes bounced from Clarke to Raven and back to Clarke again.

“What is with you guys running into hot people from your orientation day tonight?” Harper teased as she referenced the appearance of Costia at the game earlier.

Lexa looked over at Harper nervously, and Harper offered a sheepish grin before dropping her head and muttering a quick apology.

“Hello?” Clarke said as she tried to get Octavia's attention. “Do you not remember the guy you were shamelessly eye-fucking during the orientation tour? He gave you that giant hickey?”

Before Octavia could scold Clarke for announcing that tidbit of information she never meant for anyone else to ever know, she heard Raven snort out a small laugh which drew everyone's attention away from Clarke and towards Raven instead.

“Is there something you'd like to say?” Octavia challenged the brunette, staring her down and folding her arms across her chest as she did so.

“If I had something to say, I would have said it by now,” Raven quipped as she settled her hands atop her hips.

“Now that I actually believe,” Octavia replied, “since you have such a hard time keeping all your sarcastic comments to yourself.”

“Oh, you're one to talk, Blake,” Raven shot back as she took a step closer to the infuriating girl.

“You know what, Reyes–”

“Are we always going to have to keep you two separated at parties?” Clarke finally interjected.

“Let's just change the subject, okay?” Octavia offered in a huff, clearly wanting to move on from the conversation to something a bit less uncomfortable for her.

“Why don't we try and score a few more drinks?” Harper suggested as alcohol was always a college student's logical solution for diluting the drama.

A unanimous agreement was voiced from everyone else in the group, and not fifteen minutes later they were all taking another round of shots to celebrate their football team's epic win Push Bowl style.

* * *

 

As morning dawned and Clarke slowly began to come to her senses, she realized even _more_ slowly that not only was she not lying in her own bed but she wasn't lying in her own bed alone. Thankfully what graced her blurry eyesight when she cracked her lids open was a jumble of curly brown hair that she could immediately identify as Lexa's, and she let out a small sigh of relief. It wasn't that Clarke was worried she had fallen asleep in some random person's bed (along with said random person), but it wouldn't have been the first time she had crawled into Octavia's bed and spooned her much to the displeasure of them both the morning afterwards.

She couldn't help the small smile that began to tug at her lips as she buried her face deeper into the back of Lexa's neck until she felt the girl stirring against her. Clarke was lying behind Lexa, her arm draped lazily over her waist, and their legs tangled together under the sage green bedsheet covering both of their bodies. As parched as her throat was from the heavy amount of drinking they'd done the night before, Clarke hummed in raspy contentment as she wedged her body even closer to Lexa.

“Morning lovebirds!” Raven shouted annoyingly loudly as she barged into her and Lexa's dorm room with a tray of coffee from Grounders in her hand.

Both girls groaned at the sound of Raven's sudden intrusion on their quiet moment together, and Lexa buried her face even deeper into her pillow.

“By the way, princess,” Raven continued, unfazed by the girls' obvious displeasure, “your dorm room is a fucking crackerjack box.”

“Why were you in my dorm room?” Clarke asked weakly, her voice cracking with fatigue.

“I slept there,” Raven replied automatically. “You didn't seriously think I was going to sleep here with the two of you drunkenly going at it all night long, did you?”

“We just slept,” Clarke croaked before burying her head back into Lexa's unruly hair until it tickled her nose.

“Well, whatever,” Raven responded casually, “I didn't want to risk it either way.”

“Wait,” Clarke began as she lifted her head to look up at Raven, “you slept in my bed?”

“Yeah,” Raven answered as she placed the tray of coffees onto Lexa's desk.

“And Octavia slept in her bed?” Clarke asked, her voice cautiously drawing out the question.

“Yeah,” Raven replied just a slowly.

A short beat of silence filled the room before Clarke finally spoke again.

“Is she still alive?”

“Unfortunately, she wasn't as hung over as I was hoping she would be,” Raven explained as she watched Clarke struggle into a sitting position on Lexa's bed. “She managed to give me quite an earful when she woke up before I calmed her down with coffee. Which I brought for you two as well.”

Lexa perked up slightly as she heard that, and Raven just rolled her eyes playfully when she saw her roommate squinting at her from where she was lying in her bed. After a quick check to make sure she was appropriately clothed, Lexa reached towards her bedside table where she always kept her glasses and slipped them on quickly. Raven was already walking over with a cup of coffee in each hand, both of which were happily accepted.

“Why aren't _you_ more hung over?” Clarke asked Raven before taking a small sip of her steaming beverage.

“I'm a professional drinker,” Raven stated simply.

“Good morning,” Clarke said to Lexa softly, suddenly remembering she hadn't greeted her girlfriend.

“Morning,” Lexa whispered back before her lips were being captured by Clarke's in a gentle kiss.

“Ugh, you guys are gross,” Raven said as she plopped down onto her own bed and took a sip of her coffee.

Clarke just smiled when she saw Lexa's cheeks light up with a blush, and they shared a quick look before turning their attention back to their cups of coffee.

“So,” Raven continued from her side of the room, “what's the plan for today?”

“The plan?” Clarke asked, unsure of what Raven was getting at.

“You know, the hang over plan,” Raven said before taking a sip of her drink.

“I thought you weren't hung over,” Lexa finally chimed in.

“Don't get me wrong, I've had far worse hangovers than the one I'm sporting today,” Raven explained, “but I could use a little R and R before the hell of finals week rears its ugly head at me.”

Clarke cringed at the simple mention of finals week, knowing she really had to double down to get all of her art projects in on time as well as prepare for her written tests in her other general classes. She had been working her damnedest to make sure she aced all of her courses, and was on track to do so, but she definitely needed to focus on her studies come Monday.

“Let's just stay in bed all day,” Clarke said as she snuggled deeper beneath the sheets and closer to Lexa.

“Sex isn't the best cure for hangovers, you know,” Raven instructed as she began loosening her leg brace, “but if you plan on banging each other all day, let me know now so that I can make other plans.”

Lexa was quick to set her coffee down on the bedside table and slink under the covers in embarrassment while Clarke just chuckled. After a few assurances from Clarke that all she had planned for the day was to relax, Raven took her brace off completely and began suggesting ideas for their day of communal relaxation. After about ten minutes of discussion, a movie marathon was agreed upon and invitation texts were sent out to Octavia, Monty, and Harper.

A good hour after that, everyone had showered and was well nourished thanks to the breakfast burritos being served in the University cafeteria that morning. Monty and Harper had eagerly agreed to participate in the movie marathon, and Monty even volunteered to bring his projector over to Lexa and Raven's dorm room so that the entire gang could enjoy their movies on a big screen. Lexa and Clarke eventually found themselves back in Lexa's bed, Monty and Harper snuggled into a pillow and blanket nest on the floor, and Raven and Octavia naturally gravitated onto Raven's bed but made sure to sit an uncomfortably far distance apart. Raven, seemingly never able to resist pushing Octavia's buttons as it was her most amusing past time, leaned over into the brunette's space and broke the silence between them.

“You wanna help a girl out and rub my leg?” Raven asked as she motioned towards herself. “It gets sore in my brace and I know how much you'd love the chance to get your hands on my body, so really it's a win-win.”

“Rub your own leg,” Octavia muttered with a dramatic eye roll, at which Raven just laughed.

“Pipe down over there,” Clarke teased as their first move began playing on the far wall of the dorm room.

Aside from a few muffled chuckles, the rest of the group stayed quiet. Clarke was probably the only one of them who could say something like that to Octavia without getting an earful in response, and Clarke knew it which is why she took every chance she could to razz on her best friend. They were close enough to know when the other was teasing, and neither of them ever crossed the line. As their first movie began to play, Clarke shuffled herself closer against the length of Lexa’s body from behind and placed a small kiss on the brunette’s neck.

“No having sex in here with other people around!” Octavia shouted as she thrust an accusatory finger towards the blonde and her girlfriend.

“All I did was–”

“That goes for you guys too!” Octavia interrupted Clarke as she turned her attention down at the couple on the floor. “I don’t want to be in the middle of some kind of sick orgy between the four of you.”

“Calm your tits, Blake,” Raven said from her side of the bed. “No one is having sex.”

“Apparently Octavia hasn't been having any sex,” Harper mumbled jokingly under her breath.

“Uh, what was that?” Octavia questioned as she pushed herself into a sitting position to look down at the snickering couple.

“The movie is starting!” Harper quickly recovered, and Octavia reluctantly leaned back into her reclined position on Raven’s bed.

“And don’t talk about my tits,” Octavia whispered at Raven, making sure to punctuate her statement with a steady glare.

“Relax,” Raven said through her own whisper and with a roll of her eyes, “they’re nice tits.”

Octavia scrunched her eyebrows before crossing her arms over her chest and turning her attention back to the wall that the movie was being projected onto. She wracked her brain for a few minutes and finally realized it was the first time Raven had ever actually given her a compliment, a legitimate compliment that didn’t precede a snarky comment or snappy comeback. She side eyed the brunette beside her once again as if to try and further decipher what exactly was happening until Raven leaned over and into her space before whispering again.

“I _am_ capable of being nice, you know,” Raven explained quietly. “You just make it really damn difficult.”

“Yeah, well...” Octavia began, “ditto.”

“Now that that’s all cleared up, do you want to rub my leg?” Raven asked as innocently as possible. “Since I’m so nice and all.”

“Rub your own leg,” Octavia responded after a few beats of silence.

They each turned their attention back to the movie but not before sharing a few understanding smirks and playful glares.

* * *

 

It was Sunday, the day Clarke knew she absolutely had to start working on the last steps of her final for her favorite painting class. She had learned so much from her professor over the past few months and was actually looking forward to finishing her painting and presenting it with the pride that Clarke knew she’d have once it was complete. Making assumptions was never a smart thing to do, but there was something... just something... deep inside of Clarke that kept telling her that she had what it would take to really impress her professors, and hopefully it was enough to get them at least talking about giving her a spot in the fourth year apprenticeship program.

It would be an honor for an Art student such as herself to be admitted into the apprenticeship and an even higher honor to be chosen one of five students to showcase an artwork at their annual art gala each spring. Clarke wanted a chance to show her work to the art world so badly she could taste it, and being able to attend the gala as a contributor was all the motivation she needed to continue working her ass off until that very day. So with a to-go cup of Grounders coffee on the work table beside her and her favorite playlist streaming through her trusty earbuds, Clarke quickly slipped into her zone and started in on her painting until minutes turned into hours.

She could feel the once cold streak of wet paint on her cheek begin to stretch her skin as it hardened, and her fingers and forearms ached from the repetitive movements she’d just put them through for the better part of the day. With a sigh of relief, Clarke pulled her color-coated brush away from her canvas and inspected her work to find it had turned out exactly how she had envisioned it. The painting was still not totally complete, but Clarke knew she’d have to finish it in stages throughout the week in order to let certain layers of paint dry the way she wanted before continuing on. After gathering all of her paintbrushes in one hand to take them back to the sink to rinse, Clarke stole a quick glance at her phone to see if she had missed any important messages.

_Holy shit, it’s almost seven o’clock._

_And I missed dinner._

_Damn it._

She let an expression of disappointment flash across her face at her thoughts but quickly perked up when she noticed that Lexa had texted her just about an hour prior.

**Lexa Woods: I'm taking a break from writing my essay for Mr. Kane’s class and was wondering how your painting was going.**

Clarke couldn’t help the smile that overtook her face as she read the message and quickly moved her fingers around her screen to type out an answer.

**MsGriffster: I finished what I could for the day and am happy with how it turned out :)**

**MsGriffster: Still working on your essay?**

With that, Clarke set her phone down on her work table and walked her paintbrushes back to start rinsing them off. It was a step of the painting process she never really enjoyed, but it was necessary to keep her tools in proper shape and ready for her next painting session. The colors from her brushes stained the water as they rinsed, and Clarke worked diligently until the liquid squeezed from their bristles ran clear. She tapped a few beads of excess moisture off before turning around and heading back towards her painting, although she was somewhat shocked to see her professor already there.

“Sorry,” Becca offered with a small smirk as she backed away from her inspection of Clarke’s painting. “I can never seem to keep myself away from the studio during finals weeks.”

“I’d probably have the same problem if I was an Art professor too,” Clarke replied through a smile of her own as she came to a stop in front of her painting and the woman.

“Most students don’t start grasping new techniques until spring finals,” Becca shared as she turned her attention back to Clarke’s painting, “but your use of what I’ve taught so far in this class is incredible.”

Clarke suddenly felt her cheeks flush at the unprompted compliment from her professor and couldn’t help but fidget shyly with the dampened paintbrushes in her hands. She was glad they were the only two in the studio at the time, as the handful of other students who’d been working on their paintings there had already left, and let herself fully absorb everything the older woman was telling her.

“You have an eye for color,” Becca said as she traced her eyes over Clarke’s painting. “One degree of a shade lighter would have imposes an unwelcome cheerfulness just as one degree of a shade too dark an unwelcome melancholy. Either would completely diminish the mood of this scene, and you’ve counteracted that perfectly.”

The stunned blonde watched as her professor gracefully swept her fingers in front of the canvas, only gesturing but never touching, as her eyes followed behind slowly like she was visually drinking in each brush stroke carefully placed across the scene. She let a smile break onto her face when Becca finally turned her attention back to her, and the professor offered a matching grin before speaking again.

“I noticed you picked up a flyer for the teaching opportunity available.”

“Yes,” Clarke replied with a nod. “It stood out to me more than the others for some reason.”

“I think you’d enjoy it,” Becca told her confidently, “and I would highly recommend you inquire about it.”

“Okay,” Clarke said with another nod, “I’ll do that.”

“Well, don’t let me keep you from your evening,” Becca told her as she took another step away from Clarke’s painting. “I have a studio full of other finals to snoop around before it gets too late.”

“Right,” Clarke said with a smile. “I should be going anyways. I missed dinner in the cafeteria, and I’m starving.”

“Have a good night, Clarke,” the professor replied kindly.

“You too, Becca.”

The excitement bubbling in Clarke’s chest began spilling over as she packed her things and headed out of the studio. She’d never been complimented so sincerely by someone in direct connection to the art world, and it made Clarke feel absolutely giddy. She bit her bottom lip in an attempt not to let the gigantic smile spreading across her face split it in two and cheerfully hustled her way out of the art building and towards Grounders for her nightly fix of coffee. Maybe she would even buy one of those sinfully delicious pastries they sold as a poor substitute for the meal she missed. Her thoughts of coffee, pastries, and compliments from her professor clouded her mind, and Clarke barely realized she’d arrived at Grounders until the sound of a familiar voice brought her back to reality.

“You haven’t even taken that class, so stop standing there and lecturing me about _how_ to study and _when_ to study because I’ve had just about as much of your shit as I can take!”

“What’s going on here?” Clarke asked as she stepped up to where the two brunettes were standing outside the front door of Grounders.

“Just having chat with Miss High and Mighty,” Octavia said as she made eye contact with Clarke, “trying to talk to me about stuff she doesn’t know anything about.”

“That’s not–”

“You don’t know anything,” Octavia unintelligibly interrupted.

“You’re drunk, Octavia,” Raven finally got a word in.

“I’m not drunk!” Octavia yelled back in defiance.

Clarke scrunched her eyebrows together as she took a long look at her best friend, trying to discern whether Raven was right, and realized there was definitely something off about Octavia. Both of them had seen each other drunk, and Clarke was more than positive that Octavia was well on her way if not already there. Just as she was about to speak, Octavia interjected instead.

“I’m not drunk, Clarke,” Octavia told her determinedly.

“Are you sure?” Clarke asked gently, although she already knew the answer.

“I’m,” Octavia started before sighing and rubbing her hand across her forehead as if she was confused, “maybe a little buzzed or something.”

“Raven, can you grab us a couple of coffees to go?” Clarke asked. “I’m going to walk her back to our room.”

“Sure,” Raven offered in response, looking from Clarke to Octavia before turning around and going back inside.

“What’s going on?” Clarke asked when they were finally alone.

“Nothing.”

“You’re drunk and were yelling at Raven,” Clarke replied quickly.

“I’m a little buzzed, Clarke,” Octavia cut in with a huff before shrugging and adding in a dismissive, “whatever.”

“No, not whatever,” Clarke told her as she reached up and wrapped her fingers around Octavia’s wrist. “This isn’t you.”

Just as Clarke thought she saw a few unshed tears sparkling in her best friend’s eyes, the door they were standing in front of opened and Raven walked out with two cups of coffee in her hands.

“Thanks,” Clarke said softly as she took both cups before trying to dig in her pocket for the five dollar bill she knew she had.

“Don’t worry about it,” Raven offered, her tone a mixture of concern and irritation.

Clarke nodded in understanding and turned towards Octavia, handing her one of the cups and urging her to start walking.

“This conversation isn’t over by the way,” Clarke told her friend as they made the way towards their dorm building. “Sober up, and we can talk later.”

Octavia said nothing in response but lifted her cup to her lips and took a healthy swig as if she was guiltily conceding defeat.

* * *

 

Clarke woke with a start and instinctively reached for her phone to check the time. She was slightly disappointed to see that it was already after two o’clock in the morning and realized that she had fallen asleep shortly after Octavia had wordlessly finished her coffee, refusing to finish the talk she and Clarke had started earlier that evening outside the front door of Grounders. A quick glance over to the other side of their room had Clarke quickly panicking when she noticed that her roommate was nowhere to be found.

“Octavia?”

The call into the darkness was met with nothing but silence, and Clarke swung herself out of bed before she even knew what she was doing. Luckily she had fallen asleep in borderline public-appropriate sleep clothes because she didn’t take any time to check her appearance before opening their door and starting down the hallway, but after a few uncoordinated steps Clarke was met with the sight of her equally as disheveled roommate walking towards her.

“I just went to the bathroom,” Octavia announced, her voice groggy and somewhat annoyed.

“Don’t blame me for being worried about my best friend,” Clarke rasped in reply as she rubbed at her heavy lidded eyes.

“I’m not,” Octavia said with a small sigh, brushing past Clarke and into their room.

Clarke followed and latched the door behind them, locking it, and walked over to sit on Octavia’s bed with her. If spending her entire life with the girl taught Clarke anything it was how to read when she was ready to talk, and Octavia was ready to talk. What Clarke only hoped was to understand what was going on in her best friend’s head to make her lash out at Raven the way she had earlier that night.

“O, you have to tell me what’s going on,” Clarke started out softly. “Getting drunk on a Sunday night and then yelling at Raven for no good reason? That’s not you.”

“I know,” Octavia said quietly, her head bowed and her hands lying weakly in her lap.

“Talk to me,” Clarke urged carefully. “I love you, and you’re worrying me. So, please, talk to me.”

“Everything’s messed up,” Octavia replied as a single tear ran down her cheek. “I messed everything up.”

“What do you mean?” Clarke asked as she wiped the tear from her friend’s face.

“I think about him every damn day,” Octavia began to explain. “I pushed him into agreeing to take a break, and then I pushed him away. I tried... I tried to push him away... but I couldn’t.”

Clarke nodded but said nothing, knowing full well that Octavia was talking about Lincoln and their decision to take a break from their relationship when they both started college.

“He broke his foot today,” Octavia said quietly as she picked at the hem of her shirt.

“What?” Clarke asked, her eyebrows stitching together with concern. “Lincoln broke his foot?”

“During his shift volunteering with Arkadia PD,” Octavia explained. “Some drug dealer trying to get away from the cops slammed his truck into the squad car Lincoln was riding in, and his foot was smashed.”

“Wow,” Clarke breathed out in shock. “Is he okay otherwise?”

“Yeah,” Octavia answered, wiping a few more stray tears from her eyes. “It just made me realize how much I messed things up.”

“You didn’t mess things up,” Clarke tried to reason with her heartbroken friend.

“I did, Clarke!” Octavia suddenly exclaimed. “I made us take a break thinking it would save us from being miserable when I fucked our relationship up, and all it did was make me miss him more. When Lincoln texted me about what happened with his foot and the accident, I freaked. I never wanted to lose him, but I did, and now he’s hurt. And I’m hurt.”

Clarke reached out and took Octavia’s hand in her own as Octavia continued to cry, her tears now streaming down her cheeks leaving glistening tracks behind.

“So I drank,” Octavia continued between small sobs. “Then I went to go find Raven.”

Clarke’s heart and expression fell at the admission, and she immediately opened her mouth to speak.

“Why didn’t you come find me?” Clarke asked, a little nervous about what Octavia’s answer would be.

“I was pissed,” Octavia said, “and I know it’s not right but after what happened with me and Raven, I just wanted to find her and be pissed at her.”

“What happened with you and Raven?” Clarke asked honestly and was slightly surprised to see the guilty expression on Octavia’s face as she turned to look at her with wide eyes.

“We, um,” Octavia began hesitantly, “we kind of... kissed... that night of the Halloween party.”

Clarke’s eyes immediately widened at the surprising information, and she blinked a few times as she tried to absorb everything that was being told to her.

“We kissed a lot,” Octavia said, breaking Clarke from her thoughts. “We were about to go a lot further until some drunk kid barged into the room we were in and interrupted us.”

“The hickey?” Clarke asked open-endedly.

“Raven,” Octavia confirmed.

There was a lot that suddenly made sense to her, and Clarke realized why Octavia had acted so weirdly when they had seen Nate Miller (a.k.a. hot orientation guy) the night of the Push Bowl. She didn’t want the fact that she’d told Clarke her hickey was compliments of him when it was actually compliments of Raven. She still wondered why her best friend hadn’t just told her the truth from the beginning though.

“Why haven’t you talked to me about all of this before now?” Clarke wondered aloud. “We’re best friends. It’s what we do.”

“I don’t know,” Octavia replied quietly. “You’ve been so happy with Lexa and–”

“That’s a shitty excuse, and you know it,” Clarke cut her off. “The whole point of having a best friend is to be able to come to them with anything no matter what. You know I would have talked this out with you.”

“I know,” Octavia said as a few more tears escaped her puffy eyes.

“Alright, first of all,” Clarke started slowly, “if you want to be with Lincoln, then be with Lincoln.”

“But–”

“You are not your father,” Clarke interrupted. “Listen to me. He did a super shitty thing by cheating on your mom when they were forced to do long distance for that year, but you are not him. You can’t just assume that you’re going to break up your relationship with Lincoln in some way or another because of the distance. No two relationships are the same, no two people are the same, and you are _not_ your father.”

As if the flood gates had finally opened, the full weight of Octavia’s emotions came rushing out and she buried her face into her hands as she sobbed. Clarke shuffled herself closer, wrapping her arms around the trembling brunette, and held her tightly even as a few of her own tears fell against Octavia’s sleep-mussed hair. They were content in each other’s presence for another few minutes until Octavia pulled away to look up at Clarke somewhat sheepishly.

“I’m sorry I’ve been such a bitch lately,” Octavia apologized.

“We all go through stuff,” Clarke offered with a small shrug. “Next time though, come to me sooner okay? I’m always, always here for you.”

“I know,” Octavia said with a small nod as she began tearing up again. “I love you.”

“I love you too, O,” Clarke replied with a gentle smile.

After a few more seconds of sniffling from both of them, Clarke finally stood up and grabbed a box of tissues from her bedside table to bring back over to Octavia’s side of the room. They each grabbed a few, chuckling lightheartedly as they cleaned themselves up, and settled into a more comfortable position lying across Octavia’s bed next to each other.

“So you and Raven kissed,” Clarke said as if she still couldn’t believe it.

“It’s a story for another time,” Octavia simply replied.

Clarke let out another small laugh and turned her head to look up at the ceiling for a few seconds before sleep crept up on both girls and whisked them away into dreamland until Clarke’s Monday morning alarm brought both of them back into reality and officially into finals week.

* * *

 

**MsGriffster: I hate painting.**

**Lexa Woods: You do not hate painting, Clarke.**

If anything could be said about the young artist’s aspirations, it was that they knew no boundaries. Clarke had always been a visionary when it came to her art, always able to create inspired pieces at the urging of her passion, and it was what drove her to crave being a part of the art world. However it could also be said that she hated having her creativity dictated to a timeline, which is precisely the pressure she had been feeling the moment finals weeks officially came upon them.

**MsGriffster: I hate school then.**

**Lexa Woods: Even that I don’t fully believe...**

Not only did Clarke have a wealth of ingenuity when it came to her art, she also had a mind built for academia. What she lacked in the natural gift of learning she more than made up for with her well-established studying techniques, and nearly every class Clarke ever attempted was conquered by means of pure grit and determination. Lexa on the other hand knew she herself had a special gift, as everything about learning came so easily to her, but it was something she vowed of which to never take advantage. It put her in the position of being able to handle a double major in Physics and Astrophysics and a minor in Astronomy along with enough brain power to tutor a struggling student. Lexa’s views on education were fueled more by passion whereas Clarke’s were fueled by necessity, but both of them often felt the pull of their desires to feed their minds with new and incredible information.

**MsGriffster: Fine, can I hate finals?**

**Lexa Woods: I suppose I’d accept that assertion.**

A small smile made its way onto Lexa’s face as she hit the send button, always happy to participate in witty banter with the blonde. She seemed to do it so much better over text message because that way there was enough time for her to thoroughly think about her responses without having to battle the awkwardness that still managed to fluster her so badly whenever she was around Clarke. It was something she hoped would diminish over time, but the newness of her relationship with her girlfriend made it that much harder to just shrug it away.

**MsGriffster: Why thank you, Miss Woods. I’m honored to have your acceptance.**

**Lexa Woods: You’re welcome, and I’m honored that you’re honored.**

**MsGriffster: What time will you be finished with your tutoring lesson?**

**Lexa Woods: We’ll probably be done around 6:00pm.**

“Hey, Lexa!” Costia said, breaking Lexa’s concentration with her phone.

“Hello,” Lexa replied in her most formal tone. “Are you ready to begin our session?”

“Actually, would it be alright if we swung by Grounders for a cup of coffee to go?” Costia asked as she adjusted the strap of her bag around her shoulder. “I have a feeling I’ll need an extra dose of caffeine to make it through the next two hours with you.”

Lexa lifted her chin as if she was about to nod but stopped herself before completing the action, unsure of whether she should have taken the girl’s words as an insult or not. When Costia noticed Lexa’s hesitation, it dawned on her that her choice of words was a poor one and quickly opened her mouth to speak again.

“No! I didn’t mean to make it sound like you’ll be boring or something,” the brunette said as she threaded a nervous hand through her hair before letting out a long sigh. “I’m sorry... I guess I’m just nervous. This whole possibly losing my scholarship thing is just messing with my head, and weirdly enough coffee tends to settle me down.”

Lexa nodded in full at the explanation but didn’t offer a response before Costia was speaking again.

“So if we could spare ten minutes to walk over there, I’d be really grateful,” she said with a sincerely hopeful look on her face.

“Sure,” Lexa replied and turned to start walking in the direction of Grounders.

“Thank you,” Costia breathed in relief before flashing a blinding smile at her tutor.

They walked in silence for a few moments, each of them casually looking around at their fellow students hustling and bustling to and from their classes, and just as Lexa was about to check her phone to see if Clarke had responded to her text, her thoughts and actions were interrupted by Costia’s voice.

“So, Lexa,” she began cheerfully, “what are you studying?”

“I’m double majoring in Physics and Astrophysics and minoring in Astronomy,” Lexa explained.

“Wow,” Costia replied as her eyes widened. “Plus you're tutoring? You’ve got a lot on your plate for your first year. Kane must have bribed you with something really good to get you to spend your time on me.”

“Oh, um, not really,” Lexa stumbled over her words as she walked. “I don’t mind helping when I can.”

“Well, believe me when I say that you're helping more than you realize,” Costia told her as an expression of sadness swept over her face.

Lexa could tell by the way she seemed to snap herself out of her thoughts that Costia didn't want to talk about it, so Lexa didn't pry. The fourth year English major seemed nice enough, but Lexa didn't make friends easily (partly due to her own insecurities when meeting new people) and didn't really care for tutoring sessions to stray too far from what brought them together in the first place. Advanced American Literature and Poetry. Still, Lexa knew enough about social situations to at least be polite which is exactly what she planned on doing.

“What's your drink?” Costia asked as she nodded towards the coffee shop as they approached it. “Please let me treat so I can try to get on your good side before we start our tutoring session.”

“Oh, sure,” Lexa replied quietly as she slid her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “Black coffee is fine.”

_“Psst! Lexa!”_

The sound of her name being whispered from around the corner of the coffee shop gave her pause, and Lexa looked around to try and spot whoever it was calling to her until she caught sight of Octavia beckoning her over with a frantic hand. Lexa scrunched her eyebrows in confusion for just a moment before walking up to the brunette, feeling both interested and nervous to hear what she was about to say.

“Can you buy me a coffee?” Octavia asked quietly as she lifted a few dollar bills into sight.

“Why?” Lexa automatically heard herself ask.

“I sort of had an argument with Raven, and I don't think she'll want to see me anytime soon,” Octavia explained in a voice just barely louder than a whisper.

“Who's Raven?” Costia asked, her curiosity of the bizarre situation peaking.

“Lexa's roommate,” Octavia said as she eyed the girl cautiously before turning her attention back to Lexa. “Clarke wouldn't do it, and if I ask a stranger I'm afraid they'll snitch on me once they get inside.”

Costia couldn't help the small giggle that pushed its way out of her lungs as she listened to the shorter brunette dramatically tell her story like she was some kind of delinquent trying to get away with a crime. Lexa swallowed nervously for reasons she wasn't even sure why but finally offered up a response.

“Yeah, I can do that,” Lexa said as she took the cash from Octavia's hand.

“I'm treating you though, remember?” Costia reminded her tutor. “So I'll order it for your friend.”

Both girls just stood there as Costia plucked the bills from Lexa's hand, and Octavia did nothing to hide the fact that she was staring the girl down. Costia's eyes flicked from Octavia and back to Lexa, at whom she smiled brightly, before turning towards the door and pulling it open.

“She is _annoyingly_ happy,” Octavia said to Lexa the second Costia had disappeared into the coffee shop. “What are you guys doing here anyways?”

“We have a tutoring session,” Lexa began to explain. “She said she needed some caffeine before we started.”

“Mhmm,” Octavia hummed in response as she crossed her arms over her chest and glared into the window at the brunette.

“What?” Lexa asked, unsure of what Octavia was trying to convey in her wordless response.

“Make sure she knows you have a girlfriend,” Octavia said as she looked straight into Lexa's eyes.

Lexa simply nodded in response, not knowing exactly what to say back, before the door opened to reveal Costia carrying a small tray with three black coffees in to-go cups on it. Octavia broke her stare with Lexa and grabbed a cup, hurrying away after a quickly muttered thank you before Raven could catch on to what had just happened. Lexa took her cup and offered Costia a small smile in return.

“So your roommate's a little strange,” Costia said as she pointed over her shoulder at Raven working behind the counter.

“She's, um... w–what makes you say that?” Lexa asked carefully.

It was safe to assume that 99% of people who met Raven would automatically peg her as an ‘interesting character’ for lack of a better phrase, but she'd become a friend to Lexa over the months they had been living together and felt like it was her duty to never paint Raven in a negative light. Especially to someone who didn't even know her yet.

“She was all smiles taking my order until I introduced myself,” Costia explained. “The next thing I know she's glaring at me and shoving coffee across the counter like I had offended her or something.”

“Oh,” Lexa managed to get out just before catching Raven's eye as she began walking towards them.

“Hey,” Raven said as she peeked her head out the door and looked at Lexa. “Why didn't you come in?”

“I was talking to someone,” Lexa answered, hoping Raven wouldn't ask any follow-up questions.

“Oh,” Raven said with a single nod. “Well, I just wanted to let you know I'm meeting up with a few people to study after my shift ends in like five minutes so don't wait up for me.”

“Okay,” Lexa replied in understanding.

“Great, maybe we can study in your room then?” Costia said hopefully as she turned to look at Lexa.

“Actually, I am going to be there,” Raven quickly interjected.

“You just said not to wait up though,” Costia pointed out with very convincing politeness.

“Well, I changed my mind,” Raven volleyed back, her eyes widening ever so slightly.

Lexa watched the exchange in silence until both Raven and Costia were looking at her, and she lowered the cup that was hovering halfway along the path to her mouth before speaking.

“I reserved a study room in the library,” Lexa said as she looked back at Costia. “There's more room there to spread our materials out.”

“Oh, alright,” Costia said as she pushed a smile onto her face.

“Good plan,” Raven said before throwing a wink Lexa's way. “See you later then.”

Both girls bid their farewells to Raven before continuing on their way to the library where Lexa had indeed reserved one of the smaller private study rooms for her and Costia to work in. One entire wall was glass, offering an unobstructed view into the depths of the library, and was furnished comfortably with a long wooden table surrounded by four padded office chairs similar to those in Lexa and Raven's dorm room. Within a few minutes the table was covered in books and study materials, some that Mr. Kane had distributed and some that Lexa had prepared, and they immediately started in on their lesson.

When a quiet knock on the window of their study room brought them both out of their focused concentration, Lexa could barely believe their reserved time had already passed. She had been so wrapped up in explaining some of the more elusive subtleties of one of the poems set to be included on their final that she had no idea the group of students slotted to take over the room at seven o'clock had already started to gather outside the door, politely waiting for the girls to notice their time was up before making their presence known.

“Wow, where did the time go?” Costia asked lightheartedly as she and Lexa began packing their things away.

“We had a lot to cover,” Lexa replied honestly, “and we still have quite a bit to go.”

“It's actually kind of too bad that I enjoy your company so much,” Costia said with a small grin. “I have a feeling that's why our time went by so quickly.”

Lexa offered a smile in response before pulling her phone out of her bag and glancing at the screen. Her expression immediately fell when she realized she had forgotten to wait for Clarke's response to the last text she sent her and quickly swiped to her messaging app to read the new message she had a notification for.

**MsGriffster: Octavia and I are going on a pizza run around then if you want to come with.**

Checking the time stamp on the message, Lexa noticed it had been sent over three hours ago and it made her heart sink with disappointment knowing she'd left Clarke waiting for a response for so long. Costia noticed the change in Lexa's demeanor immediately and didn't hesitate to question her about it.

“What's wrong?” Costia asked as she studied the serious expression on Lexa's face.

“Oh, um...” Lexa began as she looked up from her phone and over to the worried girl. Her heart hammered in her chest as she prepared to say the one word she hadn't spoken out loud to anyone yet but pushed down her nervousness long enough to offer a response. “I just... missed a message... from my girlfriend.”

“Oh,” Costia said, her own expression immediately falling to match Lexa's disappointment but for a much different reason.

“I should get going so I can call her,” Lexa said as she started towards the door.

“Right, okay,” Costia replied through a weak smile and a short nod.

“See you tomorrow,” Lexa offered along with a polite smile.

“Bye, Lexa,” Costia said, her voice soft and somewhat defeated.

As she stepped through the door of the study room and back into the library, Lexa didn't hear the small sigh fall from Costia's lips and instead busied herself with thoughts of a particular blonde she had unintentionally brushed off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was awesome for me to finally write out Octavia and Clarke's heart-to-heart and to give a little context as to why Octavia chose to break up with Lincoln in the first place. Also, we've pretty much seen the end of Costia's involvement in the story for now; I told y'all there was no way I was letting her come between our girls :) Next chapter will take us through Thanksgiving celebrations, and I think it's going to be a fun ride!
> 
> I treasure your comments and always take the time to respond to each of you, so if you feel like sharing something about the story, the current chapter, want to ask a question, or all of the above... you are more than welcome to do that below! Thank you as always for reading.
> 
> (Find me on Twitter @MsDorisDaisy and Tumblr MsDorisDaisy)


	3. Part Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you guys have any ideas or suggestions on what you might like to see in future installments of this series, please let me know in the comments here or on Twitter/Tumblr ♥

The crisp autumn breeze that gently wafted through the soft curls in Clarke's hair sent a shiver down her spine covered by the oversized knit sweater she was wearing. She took her momentary chill in stride, just happy to be done with yet another final, as she hastened her steps towards the direction of Grounders coffee shop. Because of the cool temperatures outside it was even _more_ perfect an afternoon than most to indulge in a nice hot cup of coffee, and Clarke could barely contain her excitement.

It seemed, as of late at least, that anything not related to classes or presentations or final tests elicited an almost giddy reaction from the overworked student. It could be a morning shower that never ran out of hot water, a campus favorite being served in the University cafeteria, or a steaming cup of coffee from Grounders on a brisk fall day, and Clarke was more than eager for the last on the list as she walked into the coffee shop and took a deep whiff of the rich house blend being brewed that very moment.

“Hey, Clarke,” Raven greeted with a smile from her position behind the counter.

“Hi,” Clarke answered with a wide grin.

“You look happy,” Raven said. “Are you done with finals?”

“Unfortunately not,” Clarke told her, a small pout pulling on her lips.

“How many do you have left?” Raven asked.

“Two, but I’m totally stressing over my English final,” Clarke told her. “My professor’s a prick.”

“Well, despite your stress and the fact your professor is a prick,” Raven began with a smirk, “you still seem pretty chipper.”

“Thanksgiving is just around the corner!” Clarke gushed as a smile brightened her face again. “Finals are almost over, autumn is in the air, and I’m about to have the best cup of coffee of my entire life!”

“So, decaf?” Raven teased as she reached for an empty to-go cup.

“Decaf coffee should be illegal,” Clarke joked back. “Hook me up with the hard stuff.”

“You got it,” Raven said with a nod. “How’s Octavia?”

At the mention of her best friend’s name, Clarke snapped her head up from looking in her bag for some money and stared at Raven for a few seconds. She was pretty sure Octavia wouldn’t want her to tell Raven she knew about the kiss – the makeout – but suddenly it was the only topic she could think to talk about. Raven caught on much quicker than Clarke imagined she would and offered a crooked smile as she turned around and started to pour coffee into the cup she had in her hand.

“She must have told you about the night of the Halloween party,” Raven stated simply.

“I, uh... she... might have mentioned something...”

“Just so you know,” Raven interjected, “I would never let what happened happen again. She hasn't come out and said it yet but I know that what we did... well, almost did... kind of did... wasn't about me, and even though she annoys the shit out of me like no one else I’ve ever met, I would never hurt her.”

As she pushed the lidded coffee across the counter, Raven locked eyes with Clarke and spoke from her heart.

“You can trust me on that,” Raven told her.

Clarke nodded and handed her money to the brunette before letting her fingers wrap around the warm cardboard cup.

“She wants to get back together with Lincoln, but she’s just too damn scared to,” Clarke explained. “She is also too damn scared to admit that she doesn’t actually hate you, but if she ever does just know that you’ve made a friend for life.”

“You’re a good friend to her, Clarke,” Raven said honestly as she slid Clarke’s money back to her.

“You’re a good friend to me,” Clarke told the brunette, punctuating her statement with a wink as she stuffed her cash back into her bag.

“Alright, go away,” Raven said as she made a shooing gesture with her hands. “I can't have you tarnishing my perfectly good reputation of campus badass.”

“You are  _so_ not full of yourself or anything,” Clarke teased with a smirk as she took a step back from the counter.

“Now you're catching on, Princess,” Raven replied, throwing a playful point of her finger towards the blonde.

Faster than she'd entered, Clarke pushed her way out of the coffee shop to meet the brisk fall air once again. The walk back to her dorm room wasn't long but felt herself growing anxious to get back to where she knew she could curl up under her favorite blanket and spend the rest of her night splitting her time between watching Netflix and studying for the last two finals she was set to take the following day.

Clarke exchanged a few smiles with students she knew lived in her dorm as she passed them in the hallway and quickly made her way into her room, surprised that she didn't find her roommate there already. Octavia had a few finals left to take as well, but Clarke was sure she'd prefer studying in their room to the library where Octavia most likely was seeing that she didn't have any classes during the time of day that it was. With a small sigh of relief that their normally noisy neighbors didn't seem to be home, Clarke plopped down on her bed and toed off her shoes as she quickly typed out a text message to Lexa.

**MsGriffster: Do you want to spend some time together tonight?**

Clarke smiled softly as she hit the send button and couldn't help but imagine the feel of Lexa's body wedged up against hers in bed as they watched a movie. Or made out, you know, wherever the mood might take them. Just as her body began reacting to the memory of Lexa's lips against her own, soft hands roaming across her skin, moans falling into the air around them, Clarke's phone chirped with a notification for a new text message.

**Lexa Woods: I'd love to, Clarke, but I still have a lot of studying to do.**

Her heart fell in defeat, not blaming her girlfriend for not being able to hang out with her but feeling somewhat disappointed nonetheless.

**MsGriffster: Yeah, me too.**

**MsGriffster: Thanksgiving break can't come soon enough.**

Clarke sighed quietly to herself and waited for a response to come through from Lexa as she settled back against her pillows before taking a sip of her coffee. She tapped idly around her phone for a few minutes until it was vibrating with an incoming call which Clarke answered promptly.

“Hey, Mom,” Clarke said into her phone as she set her coffee on her bedside table and slipped down against her pillows until she was lying flat on her back, looking up at the ceiling above.

_“Hi, honey. Am I interrupting your study time?”_

“Nope,” Clarke answered quickly. “I just got back to my room actually.”

_“How are your finals going?”_

“They've been okay so far,” Clarke replied. “The hardest will be my English final tomorrow morning, but that's only because my professor is an ass who hates me and will probably grade me unfairly.”

_“Because he hates you?”_

“Yep,” Clarke said, her lips popping loudly on the last letter of the short word.

_“I'm sure you're overreacting. No one in their right mind could hate you.”_

“Who ever said he was in his right mind?” Clarke shot back after picking up the humor in her mother's voice as she spoke.

_“Anyways, I was calling to find out when we can expect you tomorrow. Aurora said she hasn't heard from Octavia either, and I was just assuming you two would be driving back together.”_

“Yeah, we are,” Clarke told her as she rubbed lightly at her eyes. “Her last final is at noon I think, so we'll head out after we pack.”

_“Can Dad and I steal you for dinner tomorrow night then, just the three of us? We're planning something a little different for Thanksgiving this year.”_

“Sure,” Clarke answered, feeling excitement at the changes to their normally routine holiday. “So what's the plan?”

_“We’ll be hosting at our house, and we've already invited Aurora and Bellamy so of course Octavia will be there as well, and I also wanted to invite Lexa and her family since you two are officially dating now.”_

“Seriously?” Clarke asked excitedly. “That would be amazing!”

_“Oh, good! I’m so glad you’re up for it!”_

“Up for it?” Clarke repeated her mother in question form. “This is going to be the best Thanksgiving ever!”

Clarke smiled as she continued to hold the phone up to her ear, her insides tingling with giddiness at the thought of being able to spend the holiday not only with her girlfriend but with her girlfriend’s family, her own family, and her best friend and her family. There was something about the winter holidays that always struck a chord with Clarke; they were quaint, full of laughter and love, and always carefree. She had often wondered why so many television shows and movies often depicted holidays as being horrid and stressful days since those she had experienced firsthand were always so wonderful. Clarke did have a knack for bringing out the joy in the simplest of situations though, and maybe it was _that_ that made what could easily be a recipe for disaster into a delicious pumpkin pie of a celebration.

“What about Lincoln and his aunt?” Clarke suddenly asked, knowing that her mother was close friends with Lincoln’s aunt. “Are you inviting them too?”

_“I’d love to, especially since cooking an entire Thanksgiving dinner is probably the last thing on Indra’s mind right now after Lincoln broke his foot, but I didn’t want Octavia to be uncomfortable. They’re still broken up, right?”_

“Yeah,” Clarke said noncommittally. “I did have a talk with Octavia, and it kind of seems like she wants to get back together with him though. Maybe I’ll just tell her about the plan and let her decide?”

_“That’s just fine with me.”_

“Alright, well I better get back to _studying_ ,” Clarke said as she emphasized the last word with a groan.

_“Okay. Let me know when you’re heading out tomorrow.”_

“Will do,” Clarke answered. “Love you.”

_“I love you too, sweetie.”_

They said their quick goodbyes, and Clarke hung up the phone. It didn’t take her but a second to notice a new text message notification along the top taskbar of her phone screen, and she figured it was a message from Lexa that had come in while she was talking to her mom. With a quick swipe of her thumb, Clarke was navigating to her messaging app and clicking open her new messages.

**Lexa Woods: I would have to agree :)**

**Lexa Woods: I’m just about to meet Costia for our last tutoring session before our English final tomorrow. Can I text you later?**

**MsGriffster: I’ll be counting on it :)**

Clarke couldn’t believe the flip of her heart at the sight of their emoticons, feeling almost as if they were standing in front of each other smiling like idiots, and she quickly shook her head in an attempt to bring her thoughts down from the clouds and back to reality. The reality being that she needed to buckle down and get in at least a few hours of quality time with her English notes before the end of the day if she had any hope to feel even the slightest bit confident strolling into her class the following morning to take the test she was more than confident she’d be graded unfairly on unless she could manage to truly impress her dick of a professor. Unfortunately for Clarke, the last thing she remembered was imagining Professor Pike’s scowling face as he handed her a test booklet before she closed her eyes and drifted off into a completely unplanned two hour nap.

* * *

 

“So Costia, huh?” Monty suddenly spoke, breaking the silence that had been filling the private study room he’d reserved for himself and Lexa to work on their respective presentations they each had to give in one of their classes as part of their final exam.

“What about her?” Lexa asked distractedly as she cross-checked a few of the facts she’d written down on her posterboard against her textbook.

“I don’t know,” Monty continued with a small shrug. “I just thought when she was saying goodbye to you after your tutoring session, she... you know...”

Lexa lifted her attention from her school work to focus on what her best friend was trying to tell her, completely confused at the half-sentence that just came out of his mouth. She and Monty had made plans to work on their presentations together, more specifically in the same room at the same time rather than helping each other with their work, and they had met in the library after she and Costia had wrapped up their last tutoring session. Monty hadn’t missed the way Costia gazed longingly into his best friend’s eyes as she said her goodbye, even touching her arm affectionately before leaving, and he had been contemplating on whether or not to talk about it. So after a while of working independently on their own presentations, Monty finally brought the topic up for discussion.

“She what?” Lexa questioned lightly, a bewildered expression painting her face.

“Well, let’s just say that I can tell she really likes you,” Monty finished with a smirk.

“I like her too,” Lexa replied with a weak shrug, still unaware of why her friend had even brought it up.

“No, Lex,” Monty began again. “She _likes_ you.”

The thought had honestly never even crossed her mind, so hearing it said aloud made Lexa’s eyebrows immediately scrunch together in confusion. She began to replay all of the moments she’d had with the girl, slowly realizing how often Costia would smile at her for simply no reason at all or how she would often reach out and place fleeting touches against Lexa’s arm after grasping a concept of poetry she hadn’t been able to before. Green eyes flicked from the table top to the partially filled posterboard and finally up to Monty again, and Lexa was more at a loss for words than she thought ever had been.

It was nearly a miracle (in her mind at least) that someone as wonderful as Clarke Griffin was actually interested in her enough to ask her to the prom, share intimate moments with, and become her girlfriend so the thought that there was _another_ beautiful woman who quite possibly felt the same way was enough to make Lexa’s head feel like it was spinning. Her self-doubt began clouding her mind as she told herself over and over again that there was no way Costia like-liked her as Monty seemed to believe, and an uneasy knot began to grow in the pit of her stomach with each second that passed by.

“Does she know about Clarke?” Monty asked, causing Lexa to snap herself out of her thoughts.

“Yes,” Lexa answered immediately. “I told her that I have a girlfriend.”

The mere utterance of the word still made Lexa’s heart glide with a feeling of privilege that she was allowed to describe Clarke in such a way. Lexa was more than sure that Clarke was the single best thing that had ever happened to her, and the realization of it was still almost too much for the ever-studious and frankly downright nerdy brunette to properly understand. Her fingers itched to fidget as her hand found its way to her glasses, automatically adjusting them higher on her nose, before they fell to the edge of her English textbook and began picking at the pointed corner of the thick cover.

“Apparently that didn’t seem to deter her from crushing on you big time,” Monty teased as he leaned back in his chair across from Lexa.

“She’s not crushing on me big time,” Lexa shot back, her eyes narrowing and her head shaking in defiance.

“Does Clarke know?” Monty asked dramatically as his eyebrows disappeared beneath his shaggy hairline.

“Of course not,” Lexa told him before scrambling to explain further, “not that I wouldn’t tell her... if there was something to tell... but there’s nothing to tell.”

“You’re my best friend, so I mean this with the utmost of kindness, but you’re as blind as a bat,” Monty stated easily.

“Hey!” Lexa immediately defended herself, crossing her arms over her chest as menacingly as she could.

“I’m serious,” Monty said through a chuckle. “You wouldn’t know that a pretty girl was interested in you unless she slapped you upside the head and said ‘Hey, I’m interested in you!’”

Lexa grimaced at Monty’s assertion but said nothing in response as she wasn’t entirely sure whether she actually disagreed with him or not. It _had_ taken her an inordinate amount of time to come to the conclusion that Clarke was genuinely interested in her, so it wasn’t too far beyond the realm of possibility that she’d missed all the signs from Costia as well.

“If I wasn’t practically your brother, I’d probably be gooey-eyed for you too,” Monty teased, knowing he’d get a rise out of his best friend with the comment.

“You did not just say that,” Lexa said as she felt a warm blush blossoming across her cheeks.

“Oh, but I did,” Monty replied in a heavy accent of unknown origin, and it only caused Lexa to chuckle in response. “Not that anything would happen because of the whole ‘I have a penis’ thing.”

“Stop talking!” Lexa pleaded as her eyes widened and her hands shot up to cover her ears. “Please, just please stop talking!”

Monty erupted into a fit of laughter which made Lexa start to laugh as well and the two lost themselves for a few minutes as they teased one another playfully with ‘what ifs’ that ended with both of them wiping tears from their eyes and gasping for breath. Neither of them had realized how much they’d needed those few moments of pure joy amidst a schedule packed with stressful studying, and it left Lexa feeling rejuvenated and more ready than ever to get back to her preparations for her presentation.

What neither of them realized was that Clarke had found herself in the middle of the library at that very moment, witnessing the two of them completely oblivious to the rest of the world and laughing as if they hadn't a single care. Clarke felt her lips tip up into a smile as she studied the way her girlfriend laughed with joy but let her face gradually fall as she realized just how badly she was yearning to be the one in that study room with her instead of Monty. With a small clearing of her throat and a swift pull of her fingers through her hair, Clarke continued on her way and tried not to let lingering feelings of disappointment distract her from the study work she still had to get done.

* * *

 

“This is stupid!” Raven yelled immediately upon her roommate’s arrival back to their dorm room. “This is literally the dumbest fucking thing I’ve ever been forced to learn in my entire fucking life!”

Lexa quietly closed the door behind her before taking a few steps towards Raven’s desk and peering down to read the title of the textbook lying beside a pile of unorganized notes. ‘Professional and Creative Development for Supervisory Leadership’ certainly didn’t sound like the most interesting read, but Lexa was sure not to let Raven see the pitying look on her face that she was already thinking in her head. The feisty Zero-G Mechanics student didn’t need anything else to rattle her nerves more than they apparently already were.

“This entire course is about how to become some stuffed-shirt supervisor, memorizing corporate jargon and acronyms, and has nothing to do with how a rocket goes zoom in space,” Raven rattled off as she slammed her pen onto her desk with a huff. “Why the hell is this even a requirement for my major?”

“Well, maybe...” Lexa began but quickly silenced herself when she saw the unamused look Raven was giving her, instead finishing with a weak “... I don’t know.”

“No, tell me,” Raven insisted as she swiveled her chair around to look Lexa straight on. “Say what you were about to say. Maybe it’ll make sense to me.”

“I think that some of these required classes that don’t relate directly to our major help us to get a more well-rounded picture of the industry we’re eventually going to be working in,” Lexa explained. “Even if we never use what we learned in those classes for practical application, they serve as stepping stones for our brains to connect one concept to another.”

Raven sat staring at her roommate for a few moments, drinking in everything she’d just heard, and narrowed her eyes before speaking.

“You are way too smart for your own good, _Alexandria_ ,” Raven said with the smallest hint of a tease in her voice as she chose to address Lexa by her full name.

Lexa only smiled in response before making her way over to her own side of the room, carefully depositing her bag on top of her desk before opening it to empty out its contents. She had finally gotten to the point of feeling 100% confident with the preparation she’d made for her presentation to the entire class scheduled for the following morning and wanted nothing more than to relax for a couple hours before heading to bed early. She took out her phone, lighting up the screen to see she had no missed calls or texts, and thought for a moment about whether she should send a message to Clarke or just leave her be in case she would be interrupting her study time.

“I have seriously never been so excited for Thanksgiving break in my entire life,” Raven said wistfully as she watched Lexa step out of her shoes and climb onto her bed.

“Are you headed back home?” Lexa asked, though she was unsure of where Raven’s home actually was.

“Nah, this is my home,” Raven replied as she sunk comfortably back into her chair.

“Polis?”

“Polis University campus,” Raven corrected, and Lexa didn’t miss the glint of sadness in her eyes. “Holiday breaks are the only time I get a little peace and quiet around here.”

“So,” Lexa began somewhat hesitantly, “you never leave campus on holidays?”

“I don’t have any reason to,” Raven answered with a casual shrug. “No family, so no holidays.”

It was the last thing she would have expected to hear and Lexa felt a dull ache in her chest as she thought about her roommate, no, her friend spending Thanksgiving alone wandering the hallways of an empty campus. She couldn’t imagine herself spending a holiday away from her Dad and sister, and there was no way she’d let the opportunity to invite Raven along to celebrate with them slip away.

“You could come to Arkadia with me,” Lexa suggested nervously, unsure of how the other girl would react. “My dad is a really good cook, and we always have a lot of leftovers.”

“So you’re inviting me along to be your family’s garbage disposal?” Raven openly teased through a wide smirk.

“If the description fits,” Lexa joked back, lifting and dropping her shoulders in a dismissive shrug.

“Well, as nice as that sentiment is,” Raven began through a chuckle, “I wouldn’t want to impose on your family time.”

“It wouldn’t be an imposition,” Lexa replied quickly. “My dad likes everyone, and my sister... well... I think you could hold your own around her. She’s a lot to handle at first, but then again so were you.”

Raven laughed, knowing just how true the brunette’s statement was, but didn’t have a chance to respond before a knock sounded at their door. Since her desk was closer to it, Raven stood up and walked to the door to answer it. Only a minuscule amount of shock passed across Raven’s face when she saw it was Octavia before her usual snarky self took over as she opened her mouth to speak.

“To what do I owe this displeasure?” Raven asked, raising a solitary eyebrow in challenge.

“Oh, don’t make me hit you,” Octavia said as she rolled her eyes and stepped past Raven and into the room.

“Don’t make me want to trip you on your way in,” Raven muttered as she closed the door behind their unannounced guest.

"Hey, Lexa," Octavia said as she looked over at the brunette sitting on her bed. "Clarke's in a mood."

"A mood?" Lexa asked, unsure of what that even meant.

"She's been acting mopey since she got back from the library," Octavia explained. "I was thinking maybe you could spare a few minutes to go over there and cheer her up. I really don't want to her to tank the final she's been studying her ass off for and then hear about it for the next twenty years of my life."

Lexa felt her mouth pull into a frown as she wondered why Clarke was feeling down but stood to slip on the shoes she had just taken off. She looked up to see Octavia holding out a bag of M&M's, knowing the packet was meant to be for Clarke as a way to help cheer her up. Lexa took it without question as she slipped her phone into her back pocket before walking towards the door.

"So if you two, like, have sex or whatever just don't do it on my bed," Octavia added, and Lexa walked sheepishly past her and out the door.

A few quiet seconds passed after Lexa had left, and Raven had found a comfortable position against the pillows on her bed while Octavia remained standing in the middle of the room looking painfully awkward and surprisingly unsure of herself. Raven’s eyes narrowed as Octavia slipped her hands into the pockets of the stylish leather jacket she was wearing and swayed from side to side a few times before clearing her throat and finally making eye contact.

“So, I’ve been a bitch,” Octavia said, the softness in her voice unable to stop the other brunette’s eyebrows from shooting up in surprise.

As much as Raven wanted to snap back with a sarcastic comeback, she held her tongue and simply waited for the uneasy girl to continue.

“I have a boyfriend, ex-boyfriend, back in Arkadia,” Octavia explained slowly and hesitantly. “I was totally in love with him but broke up with him before the school year started because I was scared the long distance thing wouldn’t work.”

“Well, that’s idiotic,” Raven couldn’t help but interject, earning a menacing glare from the other girl.

“Can you shut up while I’m trying to apologize because it’s literally the only time you’re going to hear me do it,” Octavia snapped hastily.

Raven just rolled her eyes and sighed but closed her mouth tightly as to indicate her cooperation.

“When I was fifteen, my dad’s company relocated him for a year which forced my parents to do the long distance thing,” Octavia continued. “My dad cheated on my mom, and it completely destroyed their marriage. It destroyed my mom.”

Raven watched as Octavia wiped a traitorous tear from her cheek but continued listening despite the pang of sympathy piercing through her chest at the girl’s pained words.

“Long story short, being told my entire life that I’m like a carbon copy of my dad completely fucked with my mind when Lincoln and I realized we’d be going to different schools and forced into a long distance relationship,” Octavia explained further. “I literally had no confidence that I _wouldn't_ cheat on him, which is stupid because I wouldn’t have, but I suggested we take a break so that I didn’t have to feel responsible for breaking his heart if and when I did.”

“But you ended up breaking his heart anyways?” Raven asked quietly.

“Yeah, and mine,” Octavia replied sorrowfully, wiping a few more tears from her eyes. “When I got here, I put up walls and evidently treated everyone like shit. Including you.”

“Apology accepted,” Raven said suddenly as if to mercifully let the broken girl in front of her off the hook.

“I didn’t even say it yet,” Octavia dared to argue, and Raven simply rolled her eyes at the defiance in her tone.

“Fine, then say it,” Raven told her as she cocked her head to the side and waited.

“I’m sorry.”

“Apology accepted,” Raven repeated herself. “Now sit down because you look like an awkward panda, and you need to kill time before going back to your room anyways.”

Octavia shot Raven a confused glare and wiped at her eyes before begrudgingly sitting down on the mattress, rolling her eyes when Raven enthusiastically patted the spot next to her at the head of the bed. As soon as she’d settled against the pillows, Octavia looked over to see Raven readying herself to speak.

“First of all, let me just say that I had you correctly pegged as having daddy issues from the first second I saw you,” Raven said, at which Octavia heavily sighed. “Secondly, I think you should know that you’re not the only one out there with them.”

Octavia kept her gaze trained on the brunette as she spoke, not realizing she was quite eager to hear what the girl had to say.

“I never actually had a family, so I have a lot of unresolved shit,” Raven told her, “not to mention all the really crappy walls I put up after everything with my leg happened.”

“What _did_ happen?” Octavia heard herself asking.

Raven studied the girl for a moment, as if she was deciding whether she was going to tell her the truth or go with one of her fantastic lies she'd heard so much about, before gritting her teeth and sighing.

“Would you believe me if I told you I was shot?”

“Yeah,” Octavia responded automatically. “I knew I couldn’t possibly be the only person who thinks you’re annoying as hell.”

Neither of them could stop the laughter from bubbling up from their chests and flooding the room, and they reveled in the temporary ease of tension that had settled in the moment Lexa had left them alone. After a few silent seconds had passed, Raven spoke quietly again.

“My very first job was at this tiny diner a few blocks away from my house at the time,” Raven began. “It was the kind of place that served all kinds of food but no one ever ordered anything besides breakfast. Anyways, I was hired on to buss tables and absolutely hated it but learned to love it after I earned enough money to buy myself the crappiest looking car you’ve ever seen in your life. It was literally a tin can on wheels, but it was freedom.”

Octavia just chuckled in response, knowing how empowering any means of transportation was to a teenager.

“About six months later, I stopped at this gas station to fill her up and had this weird craving for a Slurpee,” Raven continued. “So I go inside to get one, and some dude decides to rob the place the second I walk in.”

The once amused look on Octavia’s face suddenly turned into one of pure disbelief, and she looked on as the mechanics student continued her story as if telling it didn’t faze her in the slightest.

“He shot up the place,” Raven said. “Luckily no one was killed, but I got hit. I was the only one injured actually.”

“Damn,” Octavia finally muttered in a low exhale of breath.

“I know what it’s like to look at life through the eyes of insecurity,” Raven explained to Octavia. “My disadvantage is literally _right_ here for the entire world to see, but I decided real quick that it wasn’t an excuse. It never would be an excuse for me because I’d be damned if being caught in the wrong place at the wrong time was going to keep me from doing everything I had wanted to do before my life became infinitely more complicated. What happened, happened. That’s it. You can’t let what you could never control make you into something that you’re not.”

“You are one insightful pain in my ass,” Octavia finally spoke through fresh tears after the weight of what Raven had said hit her.

“A couple years of couch time can make anyone sound like a genius,” Raven replied casually, “although I am certifiable.”

“So I can accredit the genius to your couch time, which in itself seems like the definition of insanity,” Octavia quipped, “but where is it that you got your gift of sarcasm?”

“That’s all natural, of course,” Raven replied immediately as she flung her hair over her shoulders dramatically.

“Of course,” Octavia muttered with a long roll of her eyes.

“So did you just totally make up that story about Clarke being mopey just to get me alone?”

“Don’t flatter yourself, Reyes,” Octavia warned, at which Raven simply smirked.

* * *

 

As Lexa made her way out into the campus square, she couldn’t help but wonder why Clarke was ‘in a mood’ as Octavia had so eloquently reported. They’d all been under pressure that week given the fact that every professor on campus was required to assign their semester finals before the Thanksgiving holiday, but Lexa was hoping that her simple presence (along with the candy stash she had in her pocket) would be enough to brighten her girlfriend’s mood. She had never thought of herself at being particularly good with words in situations such as these, and Lexa felt herself getting increasingly nervous the closer she got to her final destination.

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

Lexa had signaled her arrival tentatively as she took a step back from Clarke’s dorm room door and heard a faint rustling from the other side before it was being opened to reveal a quite fatigued looking blonde, dressed comfortably in her new Polis University sweatshirt and a pair of dark gray yoga pants. Not a second later Lexa was graced with a genuinely surprised but adorably toothy grin, and she immediately felt a sense of relief tug gently on her heart as a warm body was thrown into her arms. They stood at the threshold of the door, hugging tightly, for a few lingering moments until Clarke finally detached herself and took a small step back much to the disappointment of Lexa.

“What are you doing here?” Clarke asked, her smile still proudly displayed on her face.

“Octavia came over and told me you were in a mood,” Lexa explained as she was ushered inside the tiny dorm room.

“She did?” Clarke asked hesitantly, closing the door behind them and making her way over to her bed.

Lexa simply nodded in confirmation. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Clarke told her weakly as she and Lexa sat on her bed together. “All this studying is just taking a toll on me.”

Lexa nodded again and waited for the blonde to continue.

“And, honestly, I think I’m having a little bit of Lexa withdrawal,” Clarke said, making Lexa’s cheeks light up with a dark pink blush.

“I’ve missed you too, Clarke,” Lexa mumbled quietly as Clarke turned herself towards the brunette fully.

“Hopefully we’ll get to start spending some more time together,” Clarke began, “after this dreaded week is finally over.”

“That would be nice,” Lexa replied with a soft smile. “I’d rather be spending time with you than tutoring and preparing for presentations.”

“Really?” Clarke asked wistfully, and Lexa nodded in agreement. “You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that. Between tutoring Costia and studying with Monty, I was worried you’d start to forget about me.”

“Of course not,” Lexa told her, even though she could sense the teasing tone in Clarke’s voice. “I would _always_ rather be spending time with you. I love–”

Lexa cut herself off quickly, and Clarke’s eyes widened as the sudden silence hung in the air like a thick cloud. Both girls’ hearts were pounding as they stared at each other, neither of them daring to speak in fear of what might come out of their mouths. The words had been bubbling inside their lungs for longer than either one of them realized, and Lexa felt herself become a little lightheaded from the realization that she almost just let them slip. In front of Clarke. Clarke Griffin. The girl she still hadn’t a clue how she had ended up with. Another few moments of deadening silence filled the space between them before Lexa swallowed thickly and reached behind her.

“These are from Octavia,” Lexa blurted out as she held the bag of M&M’s out for Clarke to take. “I mean, she gave them to me to give to you because she thought they would cheer you up.”

“Oh! Right!” Clarke awkwardly stumbled over her words. “Okay, cool.”

Lexa tried desperately to calm the racing in her chest as Clarke tore open the candy and popped a few into her mouth, silently rejoicing when Clarke spoke up to change what had quickly become a maladroit topic.

“So when are you leaving for Arkadia?”

“Um, whenever Raven’s last final is tomorrow,” Lexa replied. “I invited her to spend Thanksgiving at my house because she doesn’t have any family.”

“She doesn’t?” Clarke asked, her eyebrows furrowing with concern. “None at all?”

“Not from what it sounds like,” Lexa told her. “She said she spends holidays on campus every year.”

“This is going to be so much fun!” Clarke suddenly exclaimed. “My mom called and told me we’re having a huge Thanksgiving party with Octavia and her family, and she wants to invite you and your family too.”

“Really?” Lexa questioned, a wave of excitement washing over her at the idea of being able to spend the holiday with Clarke.

“Yeah, and now Raven will get to come too!” Clarke said as she clapped her hands together once. “Do you think Monty and Harper would come?”

“Monty’s family is going to Washington DC this year to visit his grandparents,” Lexa replied, “and I'm not sure where Harper will be.”

“Oh, okay,” Clarke said through a series of short nods, “maybe next year.”

A small hum of agreement rumbled at the back of Lexa’s throat before Clarke was making her way back towards the head of her bed to find a more comfortable position to lie down and relax. Lexa followed suit and laid beside Clarke who, in turn, nuzzled her face into the crook of the brunette’s neck and looping an arm comfortably around her waist.

“I should have brought my books with me,” Lexa suddenly said into the quietness. “We could have spent some time studying together.”

Clarke giggled at her nerdy girlfriend’s nerdiness and squeezed their bodies flush before angling her lips to connect with the soft skin of Lexa’s neck. A tiny intake of breath and the hand she suddenly felt on her hip let Clarke know the action was certainly appreciated, and she continued pecking gentle kisses higher and higher until her lips were but a breath away from the tiny earlobe Clarke found to be just about the most adorable thing she’d ever seen.

“I could think of a lot of other things we could do to occupy our time together,” Clarke said, her voice just barely louder than a whisper. “Can’t you?”

“Yes,” Lexa managed to hiss out before Clarke had swiped her tongue over the tender spot at the very top of her jawline just behind her ear.

As Clarke shifted herself to lie a little more fully on top of Lexa, she felt now to insistent hands gripping at her waist and delighted in the sound of a breathy moan that spilled from Lexa's lips as their hips pressed together. A gentle rock from the blonde above her was all Lexa needed to push them both into a sitting position, strong legs bracketing her slim hips, and smash their lips together. They both sighed into the kiss and deepened it immediately, their tongues beginning a now familiar dance as their mouths pushed and pulled together and apart in a hurried rhythm that left them both gasping for air.

Clarke wove her hands deep within soft chestnut locks as Lexa dove in again, eagerly seeking out the feeling of Clarke's lips against her own like it was the only thing she needed to stay alive. A tight squeeze of Lexa's fingertips around the edges of Clarke's hips later, Clarke felt the sensation of smooth palms dragging up her sides and taking her sweatshirt with them.

She could barely register a thought as the thick fabric was somewhat awkwardly pulled over her head and tossed to the floor, and Clarke could have sworn that Lexa had chanced a peek down at her cleavage only to divert her eyes back upwards as if she wasn't sure whether or not she could look. Before Clarke could register the preciousness of the gesture, her lips were being sought out again and she readily gave them over for another round of tender exploration as they held each other close.

The sound of Lexa’s phone vibrating against the blankets could very well have been a foghorn at the way it startled them both, causing their lips to detach fully from each other’s as they glanced angrily down at the device causing the disturbance. A familiar name lit up the screen, and Lexa couldn’t help but roll her eyes at her sister’s terrible timing before turning her attention back to the breathless girl still in her lap. There was more than a high probability that not answering Anya’s call would result in some type of lecture or another, but the view in front of her was far too tempting.

Lexa leaned back in to capture Clarke’s lips once again as a moan from each of them drowned out the last few pulses of the incoming call until just seconds later it began ringing all over again. A disgruntled groan rippled through Lexa’s chest as she broke their kiss, the gruffness of the sound only causing Clarke to giggle in amusement. Their foreheads came together as they caught their breaths before Clarke brushed their lips together one final and tender time.

“Sorry, I... need to...”

“I know,” Clarke interrupted her flustered and visibly regretful girlfriend. “If you ignore her too many times, she’ll never let you live it down.”

“It’s what older sisters do best,” Lexa sighed in response as Clarke lifted herself off of Lexa and sat on the bed.

Knowing she would get an earful either way, Lexa silenced her phone to call Anya back once she’d left Clarke’s room. They both stood up, and Lexa made her way to the door as Clarke slipped her sweatshirt back over her head. They reconnected in a final last kiss, for sure that time, and Clarke reached up to cover the hand that was gently cupping her cheek.

“I guess I’ll see you on Thanksgiving then?” Clarke asked, figuring they would miss each other the following day since their class schedules were not the same and they’d be leaving for Arkadia at different times.

“Yeah,” Lexa answered with a small nod before pulling her hand away from Clarke’s face. “Goodnight, Clarke.”

“Goodnight, Lexa.”

* * *

 

Lexa drummed her fingertips against the steering wheel beneath them as she made her way through the uncharacteristically empty streets on her way to the Griffin’s house. The fact that it was Thanksgiving Day helped account for why traffic was almost nonexistent as most families had probably already set out on their journeys to wherever they were spending their holiday that year. It would be the first time Lexa had ever celebrated Thanksgiving somewhere other than her own childhood home, and she couldn’t have been more excited to experience this first with Clarke and her family. And Raven. And Octavia and Lincoln and their families. And, of course, her own family.

She had spent the morning anxiously waiting for time enough time to pass before she could head over to Clarke's house and had been almost shocked to death when Anya suggested that Lexa just take her car over, as opposed to walking like she normally would have had to, but accepted the offer quickly. Autumn was already beginning to give way to winter, and there was more than a noticeable chill in the air which would surely have settled deep into her bones during the twenty minutes (or so) it would take to walk to Clarke’s house. So instead of showing up on Clarke's doorstop with a red nose, frozen lips and numbed fingertips, Lexa cranked the heat full-blast from the fans until the interior of the car settled on a comfortable temperature. She glanced down at the bouquet of fall colored flowers she had picked up at the market the previous day and hoped the gesture would be appreciated by the party hosts.

A jolt of excitement mixed with nervousness shot through her body as she pulled Anya’s car into the driveway and spent a few moments taking in some deep breaths before removing the key from the ignition slot. The soft burlap sleeve wrapped around the flower bouquet slid easily along her skin as she tightened her fingers around the base of it and lifted them from the passenger’s seat before popping her door open and climbing out of the car. She willed her heart to stop racing with each step she took, crossing the porch quickly and stopping in front of the large wooden door decorated with a beautiful autumn themed wreath. A knock and a few seconds later, Lexa was face to face with the person she had been longing to see since the night they were rudely interrupted by a phone call from Anya.

“Lexa!” Clarke exclaimed through a toothy smile as she swung the door wide open.

“Hi,” Lexa replied softly, powerless to stop her own smile from spreading across her lips.

Clarke was a vision, radiant even, and was all but spouting joy from every square inch of her body. Her hair was loosely pinned up, less a few unruly curls that probably refused to stay put, and she was wearing a dark crimson sweater that hung low over her hips. A pair of black leggings and fuzzy socks with pumpkins in the pattern completed her look, and Lexa couldn’t take her eyes away. She was instantly lost in the depths of Clarke’s sparkling blue eyes and barely realized that Clarke had moved into her space, close, until she could no longer keep focus on her face.

A soft whisper of Clarke’s lips against her own caused Lexa to close her eyes with a flutter before she felt arms draping over her shoulders and pulling her even closer. They continued to kiss gently, reverently, and Lexa moved her hands up to rest on the small of Clarke’s back despite the awkwardness of the top of the flower bouquet pressing in between Clarke’s shoulder blades. Just as Lexa started to forget the concept of time and space and anything else valuable that might make her rethink making out with her girlfriend in the middle of her girlfriend’s parents’ house, a loud voice thundered beside them and ripped them both from each other’s embrace.

“Unhand my daughter,” Jake commanded as his arms crossed threateningly over his chest.

“Dad!” Clarke scolded her father, taking a second to deliver a stinging but playful slap to his upper arm.

“I’m just joking around, Lexa,” Jake told the visibly flustered girl as he laughed lightly. “Come in and make yourself comfortable.”

“Thank you,” Lexa managed to choke out as she took a step away from Clarke to slip her shoes off.

“Are those for me or Clarke?” Jake asked as he pointed at the flowers in Lexa’s hand.

“They’re for you and Dr. Griffin,” Lexa answered politely, and Jake just chuckled.

“I think it’s safe to call her Abby,” Jake told her as he took the bouquet being offered to him. “We’re all family here. Now just get in here and relax while I help your future mother-in-law with the turkey.”

Clarke’s mouth dropped open as Jake gave Lexa a wink before turning around and disappearing into the kitchen. When they finally made eye contact, Lexa’s cheeks were stained about as dark red as the sweater Clarke was wearing and a few seconds of silence swirled around them until Clarke finally spoke.

“I’m going to kill my dad,” Clarke said under her breath. “I knew he’d embarrass us at some point today, I just didn’t think it would be five seconds after you walked in the door.”

“It’s fine,” Lexa tried to assure Clarke, but the way her face still glowed and her hands trembled didn’t offer much proof.

“They’re going to scare you away before I even have the chance to–”

“No Clarke, really... it’s nice... being treated like family over here,” Lexa tried again. “It makes me feel included. Which is nice.”

“He just likes to get a rise out of people,” Clarke explained through a sigh, “so tell me if he makes you too uncomfortable.”

“You remember Anya, right?” Lexa asked rhetorically, a small smirk playing along her lips. “If I’ve survived her for the last eighteen years of my life, I’m sure I can handle your dad.”

“Mmmm,” Clarke purred as she leaned into her girlfriend’s space again, “you’re quite sexy when you’re sure.”

At that Lexa couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows in interest, earning an amused giggle and a quick kiss from the blonde. Just as they were about to lose themselves in another tender exchange, the doorbell rang and caused them both to separate from each other’s arms once again. Clarke opened the door to reveal Octavia and her mother standing beside each other along with Lincoln and his aunt Indra behind them. Barely a second passed before Octavia flung herself in Clarke’s arms as if she hadn’t seen her best friend in years before releasing her to lunge at Lexa in the same manner.

“Happy Thanksgiving!” Octavia shouted, making Lexa grimace from the ringing in her ears.

“Happy Thanksgiving,” Clarke replied to no one in particular before turning her attention to Octavia’s mother and giving her a warm hug.

“Happy Thanksgiving, Clarke,” Aurora said as she clutched the girl against her and smiled.

“Hey, Lincoln,” Clarke greeted her friend with a wide smile before reaching out to wrap her arms around his waist.

“Hey, Clarke,” Lincoln replied through a matching smile. “Happy Thanksgiving.”

“Hi, Indra,” Clarke greeted the quiet woman with a genuine smile and a polite, but not overbearing, hug.

“Hello, Clarke,” Indra replied with a shallow nod.

“Did you make cranberry pie?” Clarke asked excitedly as she eyed the plate in her guest’s hand.

“As requested by your mother,” Indra simply answered.

“Oh, _yes_!” Clarke replied, pumping her fist dramatically towards her body. “This is going to be the best Thanksgiving ever!”

The rest of the group just laughed in response, and Lincoln made his way over to greet Lexa while Clarke brought the pie into the kitchen. Aurora excused herself from the group to bring back the two bottles of wine she brought with her, and Lincoln began explaining to Lexa how even though Jake and Abby’s cooking was wonderful that she would simply _have_ to leave some room for a slice of his aunt’s famous cranberry pie.

“It’s seriously, like, the best thing you will ever taste in your life,” Lincoln gushed as he sidled up alongside of Lexa.

“Lincoln,” Indra cut in, “give the girl some room and let her make her own determination after dinner.”

“ _The best_ ,” Lincoln mouthed silently at Lexa which earned him a pointed eye roll from his aunt.

“I don’t believe we have been properly introduced,” Indra told Lexa as she extended her hand.

“Alexandria Woods,” Lexa said without even thinking before shaking the firm hand in front of her.

There was something about the older woman that commanded attention, and Lexa felt herself growing nervous just being in her presence.

“It’s nice to meet you, Alexandria,” Indra said through a small smile.

“You can call her Lexa,” Octavia piped up without prompt. “Everyone does.”

“Is that right?” Indra asked, turning her attention towards the slightly nervous looking brunette and receiving a nod in return. “Okay, then. Lexa.”

“Indra!” Jake said cheerfully from the hallway as he walked into the entryway followed by Clarke and Aurora. “I’m so glad that you and Lincoln could make it.”

“It’s always nice to see you, Jake,” Indra replied as another even wider smile took over her face.

“Lexa, when is the rest of your group coming over?” Jake asked.

“They should be here shortly,” Lexa answered as Clarke slipped a hand in hers.

“Clarke, is this your girlfriend?” Aurora asked quite excitedly as she crowded the couple.

“Oh, right! Sorry, I forgot about introductions,” Clarke said as she took her hand from Lexa’s and placed it on her back instead. “Lexa, this is Mrs. Blake–”

“You can call me Aurora,” the older woman told Lexa as she shook her hand. “Clarke is just used to calling me Mrs. Blake growing up.”

“Nice to meet you,” Lexa said as she shook Aurora’s hand.

“Did you already meet Indra?” Clarke whispered in Lexa’s ear, at which Lexa simply nodded.

Before anything else was said, the doorbell was ringing with the arrival of their last set of guests. Clarke scrunched her eyebrows together as she realized Lexa had driven over separately and wondered why that was, but she didn’t get the opportunity to ask before her dad was opening the door to reveal Gustus, Anya, and Raven.

“Why don’t we all make our way into the living room, and we can finish our introductions there?” Jake suggested as the entry way became much more crowded than what was comfortable.

Everyone followed his directions and filed into the cozy room, quickly finding seats on the couches and chairs there. Clarke didn’t miss the way Octavia sat right next to Lincoln or the way Lincoln draped his arm over the top of the couch where Octavia was settling in. Before she could get situated herself, Clarke caught Gustus’s eye and he smiled brightly while opening his arms to beckon her over. The blonde looked tiny next to the burly man and couldn’t help but be surprised at the tight bear hug she received, wondering as she put her hands around his torso if that was just his version of a regular hug.

After some of the side conversation had lulled, Jake took the opportunity to introduce everyone to make sure all of his guests were comfortable with who all was there by the time they shared their Thanksgiving meal together. Bellamy managed to arrive just in time to be included in the introductions, and Abby made an appearance just long enough to greet everyone warmly and let them know the food was almost ready. She took the pumpkin pie Gustus had baked and thanked him profusely for helping out, and he responded by asking whether she needed a couple extra hands in the kitchen. Abby accepted appreciatively, and the two of them disappeared into the kitchen together.

“Hey, so why did you drive separately?” Clarke asked Lexa in a whisper.

“I was too excited to wait,” Lexa admitted sheepishly. “Anya found it highly annoying, so she let me take her car.”

“You’re adorable,” Clarke whispered through a smile before threading their fingers together and kissing her cheek lightly.

As Jake took drink orders, Lexa let her gaze wander around the group seated in the living room until she noticed Raven acting slightly more fidgety than her normally confident façade normally showed. She wondered to herself for a moment what could be wrong but was broken from her train of thoughts at the sound of loud laughter echoing in her ears, presumably a reaction from someone saying something funny. Not ten minutes later, everyone was being called into the dining room and an entire spread of turkey, potatoes, stuffing, yams, and green beans (among a plethora of other things) was being served by Abby and Gustus. A few toasts were made before everyone dug into their piles of food, muttering compliments to the chef with almost every bite.

“So has everyone besides my darling daughter here picked their major?” Aurora posed to the group of students sitting at the table.

“Hey, it’s a big decision,” Octavia defended herself through a mouthful of turkey and gravy.

“Maybe you could major in professional eating,” Bellamy teased from the other side of the table.

“Maybe _you_ could major in shutting your face,” Octavia quipped back which earned a small chuckle from nearly everyone.

“Says the girl with turkey falling out of her mouth,” Bellamy shot back as he pointed towards his younger sister’s lips.

“Alright, enough,” Aurora warned her children. “Lincoln? Are you still happy with your decision to major in law enforcement?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Lincoln assured her politely, much to Indra’s approval.

“So what will you do after college then,” Aurora began, “become a detective?”

“One day, hopefully,” Lincoln answered honestly. “I’ll have to work my way up from a police officer first.”

“It’s a noble profession,” Indra chimed in proudly. “Protecting the needs of the greater population is a worthy dream, one of which to be proud.”

“Hear, hear,” Jake said as he lifted his glass to toast.

“Clarke, I assume you’re doing well in the art program?” Aurora asked through a smile.

“I can’t confirm that until after my finals are graded,” Clarke told her.

“You aced your finals, I’m sure of it,” Abby immediately interjected. “Any art program in the country, the _world_ , would be lucky to have you in it.”

“Hear, hear!” Jake chimed in, raising his glass once again for the table to join him in a toast.

“Sure she can paint a picture, but Lexa is clearly the brains of the duo,” Lincoln teased through a wicked smile.

Clarke stuck her tongue out at him, making the entire table laugh, until Indra turned to address Lexa.

“What have you chosen for your major, Lexa?”

“She’s _double_ majoring,” Clarke interjected excitedly.

“Is that right?” Indra asked, her eyebrows raising in surprise.

“Yes,” Lexa replied quietly, “physics and astrophysics.”

“And she’s minoring in astronomy,” Clarke added.

Jake and Abby didn’t miss the way their daughter was gushing about the young brunette, and they smiled on as the conversation continued.

“You raised a smart daughter, Mr. Woods,” Indra said as she regarded Gustus who had been quiet up until that point.

“I raised two smart daughters,” Gustus corrected her. “Anya graduated last year with a bachelor’s degree in advertising and is now an assistant project manager at one of the largest advertising firms in Polis.”

“This conversation is slowly turning into a parents’ bragging session,” Aurora announced, and the entire group just laughed.

No one seemed to notice the way Raven’s smile turned from genuine to fake as she tried hard not to feel left out of the fun. She had taken a chance coming along to a family holiday celebration, she knew that, but being surrounded by parents gushing over their children had struck a chord deep in her chest that threatened to crumble her under the weight of a long overdue struggle to keep her feelings of loneliness at bay. She was so concentrated on the tiny mountain of mashed potatoes drizzled in the most delicious gravy she’d ever tasted before that she almost didn’t hear Abby speaking to her.

“Raven?” Abby called her name for the second time, the recognition of which finally got Raven’s attention as she whipped her head up to look at the surgeon. “What about you, honey? What are you majoring in?”

“Oh, um,” Raven stuttered in surprise, “I’m in my second year of studying Zero-G mechanics.”

“Yeah, what are the odds of two space nerds rooming together?” Octavia asked open-endedly.

“That sounds like the set-up to a really lame joke,” Jake teased before taking another bite of his food.

“You would know, Dad,” Clarke quipped, at which Jake feigned hurt by putting a hand over his heart.

The table erupted into a fit of laughter, and the cheerful mood of the group kept them talking for about another hour until the younger generation moved themselves into the living room to spread out and get comfortable before too long when they would all be indulging in the best part of the meal. Dessert.

* * *

 

“So, Bell,” Clarke began suddenly, “why didn't invite your girlfriend?”

The adults had retreated to other parts of the house, Jake and Gustus disappeared into the study to turn on the football game while the women chatted as they sat around the table in the kitchen, leaving the rest of the group to set up in the living room. Clarke and Lexa were cuddled on a loveseat opposite the couch where Lincoln and Octavia were sitting along with Bellamy at the other end of it. Raven and Anya were in separate chairs but next to each other, and they had all been chatting among themselves for the better part of an hour.

“Yeah, what’s up with that?” Octavia questioned as she popped a grape into her mouth from the bunch she'd swiped from the kitchen a few minutes prior.

“Do you ever stop eating?” Anya heard herself ask Octavia, and Raven snorted out a laugh in response.

“Anya!” Lexa scolded her sister in horror.

“What? There's no doubt the girl has a good appetite, but where does all the food go?” Anya asked Lexa before looking over at Octavia. “What's your workout secret, and can I have it?”

“It doesn't look like you need any secrets from where I'm sitting,” Raven chimed in, casually raking her eyes down Anya's form.

A few pairs of eyebrows shot up around the group, but the comment was mostly forgotten when everyone noticed Lincoln give Octavia a wink before threading his fingers with hers and pulling her close. Clarke leveled her best friend with a look, one that Octavia immediately saw and knew exactly what was coming next, and not a few seconds later Clarke was asking the couple a question.

“Are you guys back together?” Clarke questioned hesitantly, not wanting to make them uncomfortable with incorrect assumptions.

“Yeah,” Octavia said through a wide grin and an enthusiastic nod.

“Good for you,” Clarke said as she tipped her glass in a mock-toast.

“You finally decided to stop being idiotic,” Raven teased, referencing what she had told Octavia during their heart-to-heart a few days prior.

“Yeah, and it only took making out with you to go running back to him,” Octavia teased right back.

“Wait, you two made out?” Anya interjected, swiping her index finger between Raven and Octavia.

“Are you jealous?” Raven asked as she cocked an eyebrow.

“Of whom?” Anya challenged, crossing her arms over her chest defensively.

“Of Octavia, of course,” Raven replied. “I'm an absolute catch.”

“Too bad no one's caught you yet,” Octavia said with sarcasm dripping from her voice.

“The night's not over, Blake,” Raven said as she kept solid eye contact with Anya.

Lexa looked between the two as the conversation progressed, noting the way her sister finally broke her gaze from Raven as her cheeks broke out in a blush. It was a phenomenon Lexa had never before witnessed, and it left her awestruck and at a complete loss of how to even react. As if Clarke had noticed her girlfriend's shock, she gently cleared her throat to get her attention before throwing her a lazy smile that Lexa automatically reciprocated without so much as a single thought.

“So who is this mystery girl?” Lincoln asked Bellamy.

“First of all, she isn't my girlfriend,” Bellamy told the group. “We've only been on a few dates anyways.”

“So what?” Octavia said with a shrug. “Were you afraid we'd scare her off?”

“Something like that,” Bellamy answered before taking a small sip of the drink in his hands.

“We're not that bad, are we?” Clarke asked before letting out a small giggle when Octavia bounced a grape off her brother's forehead.

“You're the worst one of all, Griffin,” Bellamy said as he chucked the grape back at Octavia who tried to catch it in her mouth, but it only ricocheted off her cheek and behind the couch.

“Hey!” Clarke squeaked in defense. “You literally just had a grape thrown at your face. You didn't see me throw it, did you?”

“You antagonize this one,” Bellamy said as she gestured over at Octavia.

“Lies,” Clarke muttered as she leaned back in her seat, sporting a faint pout on her lips.

Lexa flicked her eyes down to see Clarke's bottom lip poking out and didn't hesitate to lean over and whisper in her ear.

“I don't think you're all that bad,” Lexa said so that no one else could hear before brushing her lips against Clarke's cheek in a barely-there kiss.

Clarke could practically feel her heart melt at the action, and the pout was wiped from her face to make was for a gentle smile that would never quite disappear for the rest of the night.

“Aw, Lexa is like the perfect girlfriend,” Octavia said as she witnessed the small kiss of what she figured was reassurance.

Both Clarke and Lexa broke out in a blush as their friends all looked over at them, and Lexa followed up her embarrassment with readjusting her glasses to sit the slightest bit higher on the bridge of her nose as she so often would do out of habit.

“I think you could give her a run for her money,” Lincoln told Octavia as he leaned over and gave her a kiss.

“Ugh, gross,” Raven said with a groan before stealing a glance over at a very amused looking Anya.

“You said it, not me,” Anya replied with a shrug before holding her glass out for Raven to clink hers against.

“Hear, hear,” Bellamy tried to join in as he leaned forward in his seat to extend his glass into the mix.

Anya bit back a smile as Raven gave him a look as if to say ‘this was our moment stay out of it’ and a few chuckles were muffled around the room as Bellamy rolled his eyes and settled back into his original position on the couch. Just then a yell of victory sounded across the way, as if Jake and Gustus had just witnessed some dramatic football play on the television, and it was followed by a loud squawk of laughter from the women in the kitchen. Bellamy took the opportunity to excuse himself to make his way into the study to watch the game after which Octavia suggested they watch a Christmas movie to get them in the spirit of the winter holidays that were right around the corner.

After a resounding agreement from everyone else, they made surprisingly quick work of deciding what to watch before they all filed into the kitchen for their slices of pie before the movie started. They ate until they were once again stuffed and settled in their spots in front of the TV after moving a few pieces of furniture so they could all have the best angle. Octavia was situated comfortably between Lincoln's legs, resting her back against his chest, while Raven and Anya positioned their chairs so that they could prop their feet up on the coffee table. Clarke snuggled tightly into Lexa who was lying behind her and secured one of Lexa's arms around her waist.

“Are you comfortable?” Clarke whispered as she turned her head back towards Lexa.

She received nothing but a nod in response and smiled when she felt Lexa tighten her grip and nuzzle into the back of her neck. The feeling of warm gentle breaths spilling across her skin lifted hundreds of goosebumps in its wake and stirred up the most wonderful feeling of contentment in her chest. If Clarke had that night and only that night to spend in Lexa's arms, she would gladly take it over an eternity of nights without. If they were asked later whether either of them had paid any attention to the movie playing in front of them, they would answer an honest and resounding no. The feeling of being wrapped up in each other's arms was far better than anything that could ever be played on a screen, and it left them so relaxed that they both ended up drifting into a lazy sleep that eventually claimed everyone else in the room as well.

When Clarke awoke an hour or two later, she immediately noticed that the movie had finished and was back to the main menu as the title song played softly in the background. She felt Lexa's arm still draped heavily across her waist and tried resisting the desire to turn herself around but lost that battle when the urge to see Lexa's face was just too great. Clarke stopped herself from chuckling when the sleepy brunette let out a soft groan and tried to tug her closer after she'd successfully turned her body to lie face-to-face with Lexa.

A smile played at the edges of Clarke's lips when she noticed Lexa had apparently taken her glasses off at some point during the movie and didn't think twice before lifting her hand up to brush the pads of her fingers against the soft skin of Lexa's cheek. Her heart skipped a beat as she watched green eyes flutter open and focus on her own before she moved her gaze down to look at the pouty lips just inches away from her own. Her hand traveled the same path as her eyes, and Clarke gently caressed the line of Lexa's jaw until she stopped at the very tip of her chin. She ghosted the tips of her fingers across Lexa's lips as her breath caught in her throat in anticipation of the confession that she knew was about to make. Her heart stopped beating, at least it felt as though it did, and she took a deep breath before locking eyes with Lexa and speaking so quietly that Clarke wasn't even sure that she _was_ speaking.

“I love you.”

She did speak, her voice had made at least a whisper, because the look in Lexa's eyes was more than enough confirmation that she'd heard. A shimmer of what looked to be unshed tears along the rims of Lexa's green orbs captivated Clarke's full attention, and she had almost forgotten that she was waiting on a response and gently cupped Lexa's cheek with the palm of her hand. A few deafening beats of silence filled the air around them before Clarke heard, in the faintest of whispers, Lexa's reply.

“I love you too, Clarke.”

Each of them smiled into the kiss they shared directly after they'd whispered their feelings for the very first time and nuzzled into each other in another strong embrace until the allure of sleep came drifting upon them. They fell asleep in each other's arms, and with more love in their hearts before, and Clarke was more positive now than she ever was before that this particular Thanksgiving was the best of her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap on another installment of "The Days of Our Love" series! There were a few scenes I had to cut out to keep the chapter around 10k, but I really hope you guys still enjoyed everything. I absolutely loved writing the Octavia/Raven conversation and also loved diving a bit into Raven's backstory. I'm a slave for those as you all probably know by now! I do apologize for you Octaven fans out there... the fact is that I love Lincoln too much not to make him happy with Octavia. I will write Octaven at some point in another story. I promise. Kudos and comments are so appreciated, as always, and I can't wait until next time :)
> 
> I treasure your comments and always take the time to respond to each of you, so if you feel like sharing something about the story, the current chapter, want to ask a question, or all of the above... you are more than welcome to do that below! Thank you as always for reading.
> 
> (Find me on Twitter @MsDorisDaisy and Tumblr MsDorisDaisy)


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